Times are Changing
by lisabit
Summary: Story is mostly Bella and Edward! Bella is one of the oldest vampire in Texas. When the human Cullens move to Dallas things aren't what they seem. Edward meets Bella & her 'cousin' Stefan. Things get weird. Lots of other vamps appear.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris. This is my very first fanfiction and I want to know if it's any good before I drag it out too far. There will be alot happening... I just hope it works out well.

A special thank you goes out to Alex, my editor. I think I'd go nuts without her. This is the cleaned up chapter one… a cleaner chapter 2 is coming soon.

**Okay, vampires should NOT glitter! I love the Twilight characters, but that part is just... gack! Enjoy!**

**EPOV**

I hate this; it's the middle of summer before my junior year and suddenly my family and I are moving. My dad, Carlisle, got this great job at a hospital in Dallas, so we've been spending all week packing our stuff. I admit, I've lived in Forks my entire life and I'm going to miss this little town tucked away in Washington. I really don't want to leave. Forks is so green and alive to the point you could feel the life pulsing around you. Not to mention I know everyone in town by site, if not by name. Dallas is huge; enclosed. Man, this is going to be… different.

Before I get any further, I should describe my family. There are five of us "kids" plus our parents Esme and Carlisle. Emmett is my oldest brother. He's a bit of a pain and lives to torture me. Rosalie, my older sister, and her twin brother Jasper, are a bit older than me. For the most part they keep to themselves. Rosalie adores Emmett and Jasper absolutely dotes on Alice. I call Alice my "little" sister due to her pixyish appearance, but she's my age. I've always been the odd man out and until recently that didn't feel so strange. Everyone else loved the idea of blowing this rainy little town and moving to the city. Emmett already has a job at this famous cowboy bar close to town. Me, I can't stand the idea of leaving the only home I've ever known.

"Hey, snap out of it, bro!" Emmett slapped me on the back. Since he's built like a wide receiver, I barely managed to keep on my feet.

That woke me up for sure. I glared at him as he walked off laughing, putting his box in the back of the truck. I didn't realize it, but I'd stopped in the middle of the driveway, a box in my own hands. Shaking it off, I gingerly settled my own box in the back of the van. No way _is my music_ going in the moving truck.

"That's the last box!" Alice squealed, skipping out of the garage, her black hair flaring every which way. She gracefully jumped up to close the garage behind her.

"I can't wait to get to Dallas! All those yummy cowboys!" she clapped, hopped into the van and stealing the back seat. Settling for second-best, I sat next to her, kicking Emmett's leg as I passed. I couldn't help but laugh. Alice is one of a kind.

Esme exited the front door, locking it. "We're all set. Jasper and Rosalie are meeting us there. They wanted to get everything set up." It was more like she was reminding herself than us. That's my mom; biggest heart in the country.

The trip down was not too bad. Beautiful country all around every now and then Carlisle would pull over and we'd take pictures from the scenic overlooks. I especially loved it when we drove over the mountains. Stunning; absolutely stunning.

It took a few days, but when we got to Dallas, I wanted to hold my head. There are so many people and it seems that the whole city swallowed the sky. Carlisle seemed to know where he was going and took us right through the city to the country outside the city limits. The house they'd bought to renovate was huge. It could easily fit all of us, plus more if need be. Not to mention there was no one around for miles. Talk about your Texas wide open spaces. For the first time since hearing about this move, I was excited.

Looking at me, Alice stuck her tongue out, smirking "See, broody, I told you, you'd like it here."

"Rose and Jasper are out back, I see. Leave it to them to insist on a swimming pool," Carlisle smirked, shading his eyes with his hand. "The moving truck should be here by tonight, I hope. Everyone's registered in school and you start tomorrow."

Once I got out, I knew why Carlisle shaded his eyes. The sun was ferocious and unfiltered by trees, of which the only few were around the house. It did look promising though.

**BPOV**

You'd think in a city like Dallas (if that's where this is) more would be going on. Technically it is Dallas, but I live so far out of town I'm not sure what to consider it anymore. I mean, I get up, go to school (when there is school), go to work and come home. Shower and repeat. Not like I really have time to do much. School starts tomorrow and there's so much to do, including cheerleading tryouts. I don't even want to think about that now. Anyway, I better get to work before my cousins get home and start annoying the heck out of me. They're so overprotective of me they seem to physically hover when I'm alone. The work uniform wasn't too bad; ponytail, shorts and t-shirt, and I work with some pretty cool people. I'm glad I don't have to work seven days a week though.

Tonight I was working the late shift, so it was already dark as I sprinted to my truck and sped off. When I got arrived, I parked around back so my truck remained 99% unmolested. My best friend got me this job and I have the coolest boss in the universe.

"Heya Sam," I said, walking into his office and dropping off my purse.

It took him a minute to register my presence. He was usually engrossed with the books about this time. "Howdy Bells. It's gonna be a fast night tonight with the game on. Sook's already out there waiting for you."

I adjusted my necklace a little before tying on my apron and getting busy. Sookie came in earlier than me, but she was going to help close tonight. The evenings always go by faster when she works with me. The place was jumping. The only person who looked out of place was a very tall blond at the bar, eyeballing Sookie like a piece of meat. He gave me a weird vibe.

"Umm, Sook… What's with tall, blond and annoying?" I knew who he was of course, but that didn't mean I wanted him in my bar.

She just laughed, "Oh him. Don't worry about Eric, Bella. He's just meeting someone here tonight," though her eyes said otherwise. "Bill should be here sometime tonight too," she added, winking. Rolling my eyes, I started working my tables.

The evening was almost a blue until the game ended. Bill showed, sitting in Sookie's section, deciding on red wine tonight. There were still a few hours left before closing, so Sookie and I caught up a bit on the local gossip.

"You know the old Baker ranch house way out in the sticks? Some doctor with a bunch of kids bought it. I always thought that place was haunted," the cook said, leaning out the window. Lately there've been a lot of cooks going in and out of this place so I haven't really gotten to know this one yet.

All of us looked at him, shocked, even Eric, "You thought that place was haunted," I said, tilting my head, hoping I' heard wrong. The Baker's was vacant for so long that there were stories flying around about strange things happening there.

The door opened behind us, and we turned, stunned as a lithe blond man, his wife and a bunch of teenagers filed in. All of them were gorgeous and as graceful as dancers. My eyes fell on the last to enter and I was froze, paralyzed by his gorgeous green eyes. Sookie elbowed me to break the spell.

Gathering some menus, I walked towards them, "Good evening, my name's Bella, I'll be your waitress this evening," my voice was shaky, but I managed to direct them to a center table. "What would ya'll like to drink this evening?"

I tried hard not to stare, but my gaze kept drifting back to his wavy reddish brown hair capping a fair complexion. He looked so familiar; someone I should remember. I feel my face tense, the red blur my eyes. Quickly, I glanced away, breathing deep. This was not the place to lose control. No one has affected me like this before. Calmer, I saw Sookie looking funny at me before I winked and took the drink orders.

Oh yes, this would be a very interesting evening.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris.

Note: In this story, vampires have NOT come out…. Yet. Thank you again to Alex, my editor on this… she really saved my tush.

**EPOV**

The movers arrived at dusk and took until eight o'clock to unload. By then we were exhausted so when Esme suggested that we all go out to eat it sounded lovely. We drove around aimlessly until we spotted this bar, Merlotte's, tucked in amidst the trees. With its gravel parking lot and weatherworn shingles, it screamed country. Reminded me of home in some ways. As we filed in I noticed the place wasn't too busy. It was later than I thought. That's when I heard her.

"Good evening, my name's Bella, I'll be your waitress this evening," she said. I could only catch her liquid brown eyes for a moment before she turned. Seating us, she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear before taking our drink orders. Her accent was classic Texan and very endearing. Alice caught me watching Bella head towards the bar to fill our drinks.

"She's quite beautiful, isn't she Edward?" she whispered, elbowing me.

I ignored Alice, refusing to admit she was right. It's also the same time I realized everyone at the table smiling at me. Well, almost everyone, Rosalie almost never smiles unless it's at Emmett.

As Bella brought our drinks, I made sure she'd notice me. Last to order my food, our eyes locked when she looked at me. To my surprise, I forgot what I wanted to order. Smiling crookedly, I rambled off the first dish I saw on the menu. Thankfully, it took her a few seconds before blushing, she started wrote it down and scrambled towards the kitchen.

With Bella out of sight, my head cleared. _Why does she look so familiar to me?_ _I wouldn't forget that face but I can't place her. Maybe someone in our old family photo albums resembles her._

While we waited, two dark haired gentlemen entered. The first was dressed entirely in black and slightly older than his companion, who looked as if he was still in school. The younger man greeted Bella with a hug while the other held back until she touched his shoulder. Seating them at a nearby booth, Bella brought back drinks without even asking. Obviously they were regulars, and as she laughed with them a bit; my heart sank. _The girl of my dreams was taken._ Did I just think that? I shook my head, surprised at the thought.

Our food arrived and we quietly talked about the trip down from Washington. Alice was especially excited about attending the new school. When Bella returned, Emmett decided to open his big mouth.

"Hey Bella, you're in high school right? How's the football team?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. Startled, Bella thought a minute.

"It's not too bad. Last season was more wins than losses. Our problem this year is most of the first string players graduated. I'm hoping the team gets some fresh blood." she said the last statement staring straight at me. "Are you boys thinking about joining the team? School's holding tryouts tomorrow on the football field."

Emmett and Jasper almost jumped out of their seats. "We'll be there!" Emmett announced happily. Well he is the football nut.

"You wouldn't happen to know about cheerleading tryouts, would you?" Alice asked shyly.

Bella grinned, "I sure do. They're on the opposite side of the football field across from the boys. We wanted to have them in the gym, but the basketball team claimed precedence.

Alice clapped her hands gleefully, no doubt picturing cute footballers in tights. "Oh yes, I'll definitely be there! Rose?"

Rosalie looked up, bored. "I'll try, but no promises." Leave it to Rosalie to hide her talent. Inspired me to see what hell she'd unleash on the squad leader running tryouts.

Bella's face positively lit up "That's great! I'll see ya'll tomorrow," she smiled, leaving to deliver now cool dinners to the two guys. Apologizing for the delay, she ruffled the younger man's hair affectionately. _What was Bella doing with a guy like that?_

**BPOV**

I was filling drinks at the bar when Sookie grabbed me, pulling me aside.

"The one with the auburn hair has been staring at you since he walked in. Want some background on the new boy?" Sookie was nonchalant, but I knew she was bursting with excitement. She's been bugging me for years to snag a boyfriend. She kept saying a girl like me wasn't meant to be alone. Once she even tried to fix me up with Eric! It was such a disaster Sookie started viewing me as a nun. Something I should mention about Sookie is she's telepathic with everyone save me. I block her somehow but I think that's why we hit it off so well.

I sighed, knowing she wouldn't give up, "Sure."

Sookie practically spewed, "His name is Edward Cullen and he's a junior. He loves music and the arts. Also, he thinks you're the finest thing he's ever seen. Want me to go on?"

I put my hands up, "No no, don't! I actually want to find the rest out myself." I smiled shyly, caught up in Sookie's words until I saw Eric further down the bar.

"What are you still doing here, Eric?" I hissed, my voice positively hostile but quiet enough Sookie didn't hear.

Eric smirked; "Now Bella is that any way to talk to your Sheriff?" he replied smoothly, one eyebrow cocked.

"Can it Eric, I'm working. If you've got business with me, wait until I'm off duty. I don't need you distracting me now." Eric knew instinctively how to rile me.

Smiling broadly, Eric stepped back and bowed mockingly. "I think I'll wait here little vixen. I'm enjoying the view," his eyes followed both Sookie and me. Bill was watching us with the strangest expression from his booth. I put a finger to my lips and he nodded.

"Here you go, Bells," Sookie said, passing me drinks. Tray loaded, I headed back to the Cullen's table. They'd all ordered something different to eat which surprised me. Getting down to Edward his eyes locked with mine. My knees grew weak; I was captured by his smile. Quickly I looked away before I totally blew my cool. Double checking the orders bought me a few minutes grace before I could flee to the kitchen.

The orders with the cook I couldn't help but laugh. As old as I was, all it took was a pretty face and I was acting like a silly teenager. The thought had me laughing so hard I was crying, quietly of course. I didn't want to draw further attention. Sookie called me back to the front. Composing myself, I came out to see my cousins Damon and Stefan. Well, they called themselves my cousins and in a roundabout way they are. I hugged Stefan and patted Damon on the shoulder. He wasn't much for PDA.

"What are ya'll doing here?" I asked.

Damon scoped out the remaining patrons, "Just in for a quick bite, you know how it is." Rolling my eyes, I escorted them to their table. "I'll get you the usual," I said, getting their drinks. Quickly I dropped them off because the Cullen's food was ready to go. Just as I was finished loading the Cullen order, my cousins order was ready so I added them to my heavy trays. At the Cullen table, I walked around letting everyone grab their own plates. That's when they ambushed me about the football and cheerleading tryouts. Thrilled by their enthusiasm, I knew by their physical condition getting on the team would be a cakewalk. My eyes barely seemed to leave Edward unless someone talked directly to me. I hope he didn't notice. Personally, I couldn't wait to see everyone in action. It'd been awhile since we had any new students, especially this far outside Dallas.

My trays much lighter, I excused myself and rapidly delivered my cousins dinner. Since it wasn't exactly hot anymore, they felt justified in teasing me about Edward. Seems my face speaks volumes. Laughing it off despite my flushed face, I ruffled Stefan's hair and camped out with Sookie at the bar. I checked a few more tables and snuck in an evil glare towards Eric on the way.

"Is he watching me?" I asked nervously.

Looking over my shoulder, Sookie nodded. I felt like a silly girl. It was…refreshing to know I was still capable of emotions. I was starting to wonder. The Cullens left quietly, requiring just one drink refill to go. Busing their table, I was shocked to find a thirty dollar tip. Quite a pleasant surprise to say the least! As I finished clearing the remaining tables, Damon and Stefan made their way out.

"See you at home Bella," Stefan called, walking out. Through the open door I saw the Cullens still outside. Edward's face clearly said he's heard my tender goodnight. _I hope I'd get the chance to tell him Stefan and Damon are family._

Sam popped out of his office, "Okay ladies, time to lock up," he said, ignoring Bill and Eric. Their presence was so normal at the bar they could serve as bar stools. Sookie handled the front door while I tackled the salt and pepper shakers. The cook would be in next morning to mop the floor for lunch so we lucked out.

"If you need me Sam, just call. With school starting I gotta cut my hours." I hated telling him that, but I couldn't handle working seven days a week with my school workload. All honors classes, most of which are boring but I still had to put in my two-bits. Sam nodded, taking my keys. Apron off and in the hamper, with hands washed, I grabbed my purse and was out the back to see Eric leaning against my car.

"Okay Eric, what do you want?" I was tired and in no mood to deal with him now or any time. Eric took his sweet time answering.

"Just told to inform you a nomadic vampire may be in the area. With your… unique scent, it may be attracted to you," he said calmly, almost sexually towards the end.

His voice made me shiver, "Screw you Eric. I'm not interested and I never will be."

"We'll see." With that he was gone. A huff of breath escaped in a growl as I got into my truck. At home, something rustled in the woods by my house but was quiet, waiting for me to park. The sound of the electronic lock sounded when someone with flaming red hair streaked out of the trees towards me. Fangs bared, I growled threatening, claws ready to strike. She stopped and grinned, quietly hissing at me, leaf strewn hair flaring wildly.

**Hope ya'll are still reading… more to come soon. Please remember to click that green button.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris.

Thank you again to Alex, my editor

_**Before**_

The sound of the electronic lock sounded when someone with flaming red hair streaked out of the trees towards me. Fangs bared, I growled threatening, claws ready to strike. She stopped and grinned, quietly hissing at me, leaf strewn hair flaring wildly.

**BPOV**

"What are you?" the woman growled huskily, eyes darting, nose sniffing the air. She licked her lips. "You smell divine!"

I was interrupted before I could reply. Leave it to Damon to make a dramatic entrance. All of a sudden he was blocking me with Stefan covering his left. With no chance taking her prey and _these_ two, the stranger snarled, frustrated, vanishing into the woods. Damon followed her, not one to let such an intriguing creature slip away without a chase. Stefan shook me roughly by the shoulders.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Is this why Eric was in the bar? To warn you about the nomad" Stefan was livid although I could see the concern in his eyes. I've seen him this way many times but not in a very, very long time.

I could only nod. It's been almost two decades since I encountered a nomad and roaming this far from Dallas was even more surprising. Damon reappeared, irritated, but no more so than usual. We entered the house, both of them on my heels. I couldn't take it anymore.

"Guys, I'm fine. Thanks for the intervention but I'm sick of feeling you two breathe on the back of my neck!" All the energy was drained out of me. Mounting the stairs I felt rather than saw Stefan reach for me. Grabbing his wrist, Damon shook his head.

"Give her some space. She'll tell us when she's ready."

Opening the door to my room was like entering a whole new world. Grabbing my first portfolio I flopped across the bed, idling flipping pages. My human family was so long past I could barely remember them. Turning pages a little slower now, my eyes landed on a sketch drawn on a small scrap of paper, placed between sketches. A drawing I'd done when human, hundreds of years ago. I traced the lines with my fingers, remembering his green eyes, trying to place him. He'd been a dream…yes, a dream. I softly closed the portfolio, ignoring that my long dreamt fantasy man was walking the streets as Edward Cullen. Instead I focused on Damon and Stefan below. They were concerned about the nomad and me more than usual. The nomad. Closing my eyes, I reached out sensing her. All she was projecting was intense confusion, hunger and a fierce will to survive. Well, one didn't make it long alone if they weren't strong. Sighing, I lay down my head and fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes it was morning. Stretching my arms, I slipped into auto pilot, dragging myself downstairs. Damon was still asleep, but Stefan was already making us breakfast in the kitchen.

"Morning, Bella," he smiled. "Looking forward to another year?"

With a mouth full I eggs I smiled knowingly. Hell, I was practically glowing.

Stefan winked, "Just remember to breathe normally when you see him."

"Ha-ha," I said, checking the time. "Crap, we gotta go!"

It was already getting hot when we arrived at school, early thanks to my lead foot. We waited for the others inside, picking up our schedules from the table by the door. Caroline was sitting on the stairs, foot tapping impatiently. She waved us over.

"Oh thank God Bella, I wanted to catch you before the new kids get here. There're so many rumors already about its freaky. Are they as gorgeous as everyone says? I heard they went to Merlotte's last night." She couldn't contain her excitement.

"Definitely. I'll let you judge for yourself later today." I had to tease her a little; I haven't seen Caroline in about a week. It was then that Elena, Matt and Bonnie sidled up. Stefan took a seat on a higher step so the girls could group together. I smiled fondly at him. The conversation turned to our schedules and we spent the next 15 minutes seeing who shared classes. Matt brought up football with Stefan which caused Caroline to spaz about cheerleading. Bonnie was the one who saw them arrive.

"Bella!" she pointed.

Turning I met a pair of emerald eyes. Again my world screeched to a halt and I forced my head to twist away.

"Yeah, that's the Cullens. They…"

"Bella! There you are! I was hoping to see you this morning." Alice interrupted, bouncing down next to me. Her siblings huddled collectively by the wall for a moment before mingling with the crowd. Edward lingered until Alice waved him over.

"I totally forgot my manners! I'm Alice and this is my brother Edward." She gestured with a thumb as Edward leaned against the wall next to her. I avoided meeting his eyes directly.

"Bella," Edward nodded in greeting, smiling as everyone introduced themselves. I think we were a little shocked how well they blended with the locals. Only Edwards seemed nervous … like something was bugging him. I couldn't get over how good he smelled. _Stop it, Bella. Now!_

"So Bella, what's your first class?" Alice practically pounced on my arm.

"Art, then English," I checked my schedule then looked at the clock, "I'll see ya'll in history, guys. I've got to get to the office." Thankfully Edward was looking away as I walked past him into the office. The secretary sighed with relief.

"I'm so glad you're here Bella, there's a whole list of things here we need to settle before announcements." Most of them concerned for sports, clubs and special classes after school. I jotted a few down that interested me. The bell sounded and the crowds surged into a broiling mass through the halls. I smiled until the second bell rang and the principal emerged, starting off the day over the loud speaker with the pledge of allegiance.

**EPOV**

Everyone fitting in the truck wasn't a problem; its Emmett's driving. The high school was easy to find and with Emmett swerving in and out of traffic he shoved us all to one side as he pulled into the parking lot. I'm use to his driving, but still… sigh. Everyone seemed to be gathering inside, and as we filed in my eyes scanned the hall for her. There. She was on the stairs, the younger guy from the bar above her._ Of course_. I sighed. Shoving me my schedule, Alice yelled at Bella heading straight over. I hesitated until Alice gestured for me to join. I kept to my feet, quickly saying hi to Bella before moving onto the others. They delved back into comparing our schedules with theirs and I was surprised Bella was taking art. From her absent minded doodles on her schedule I could tell she had talent.

"I'll see ya'll in history, guys. I've got to get to the office," Bella said in a rush. I couldn't help following her leave with my eyes. Emmett brought up the topic of football but before they could get too far into it the bell rang.

"Looks like I'll see you in theatre, Alice, take care," I said, following the map to my first class. Once in my seat, the speakers kicked on. The principal led us through the pledge when I heard her voice.

"Good morning, this is Bella Swan with a few quick announcements. Cheerleading and football tryouts will be held on the football field, gear provided, starting at 3:45 sharp, so don't be late. The music appreciation club will commence meetings tomorrow, while drama club meetings start Wednesday. For all other club activities and signup sheets, please see the bulletin board in the main hallway across from the office."

The principal took back the microphone after that, continuing with new rules and regulations. English class was a breeze, biology then gym. On the way to my forth class I passed the signup sheets, signing up for drama club, music appreciation and football. My forth period class was theatre arts with Alice. Inside several students were already sitting on the floor or on the edge of the stage. I recognized Bonnie and Elena from this morning, but the girl between them with her back to me I knew in my heart. Bella looked when Elena pointed, blushing only slightly before returning to her conversation.

The teacher announced our productions this year were both from Shakespeare and her expectations. We'd perform _Romeo and Juliet_ this fall and _Taming of the Shrew_ in the spring. The drama club would hold the auditions and crew assignments. I was pleased every time Bella's attention drifted from the teacher to me. It did spark my curiosity about her behavior towards me if she has a boyfriend like Stefan.

After class Bella approached me. "Edward, would you and Alice like to sit with us at lunch?" It was the first time I'd her say my name and it shook me.

"I'll check with Alice, but more than likely yes. Alice seems to like you." I laughed; that was the understatement of the year. Bella smiled brightly and headed to the lunchroom, while I waited outside for Alice.

"Well?" Alice's look was penetrating.

"Cut it out Alice, she's got a boyfriend." I raised my eyebrows in the direction of Bella sitting between Stefan and Bonnie. Alice just laughed knowingly.

"What?" I knew she was hiding something from me, so I followed her through the line.

She laughed again, "You'll find out soon enough, bro. You've been so broody lately I think this will perk you up. I'd much rather you find out on your own."

I always wonder how someone so small can be so annoying.

"Bella invited us to sit with her today," I watched her expression go from teasing to excitement.

She grabbed me by the arm, "Why didn't you say so earlier?" I was nearly dragged through the line in her rush to grab a hamburger; pizza sounded better to me. Paid for, we took our seats at Bella's table.

"So Alice, what do you think of Johnson High so far?" Bella asked, taking a bite from her sandwich, head resting on the palm of one hand.

Alice picked the onions off her burger, "Not too bad. I love the people here. I thought I'd see more cowboys though."

Bella laughed richly, "Most of them don't bring their boots and hats to school, but wait 'til the first football game. There'll be so many cowboys you'd think you were standing in a bullpen."

Alice's eyes lit up, "I can't wait!" That set all the girls laughing.

"How about you, Edward; what do you think about the school?" she met me directly now, eyes piercing my depths. I held back a sigh of pleasure.

I responded with a half smile, "It's like nothing like I imagined," pleased at the soft blush staining her cheeks. My smile faltered when Stefan squeezed her hand, whispering softly in her ear. She nodded, pulling her hand away. _Now, what was that about?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris.

Note: My Italian sucks, I had to use a translator… translations at the bottom. This is the raw version, so please excuse spelling and grammar.

_**Before**_

I responded with a half smile, "It's like nothing like I imagined," pleased at the soft blush staining her cheeks. My smile faltered when Stefan squeezed her hand, whispering softly in her ear. She nodded, pulling her hand away. _Now, what was that about?_

**BPOV**

When Edward said those words I could feel my control slipping. I knew Stefan felt it too when he grabbed my hand and squeezed it. I could feel Damon near too, but he kept his distance.

"You can do this, my Isabella," he whispered softer than anyone at the table could hear. I simply nodded to him and pulled my hand away from his and put it under the table, grabbing my knee. I glared at him, and then turned with a smile back to the table.

"So Alice, what class do you have next?" I asked her, trying to sound cheerful.

She opened her notebook, "Looks like I have history next. What about you, Edward?"

"World History, then Italian" he answered simply. He must have memorized his schedule already. I jerked up in surprise.

"You're taking Italian? Is this your first year?" I couldn't help but suppress my curiosity.

He nodded.

"If you need a tutor, let me know. I might be able to help some." I rolled my eyes at Stefan who was laughing quietly, covering his mouth.

"Spero che stiate per la sfida il mio amore. Sembra veramente interessato a te." Stefan managed to get out during his laughter.

"Non dire di più, Stefan," I snapped, instantly stopping him. "Sorry about him," I told Edward, who was shocked at the authority in my voice. "The offer is there if you need it."

"I may take you up on that, Bella. From what I just heard, you seem to have a very good grasp of the language," he smiled that crooked smile of his. I looked down, hiding my face in my hair. _I feel so silly acting like some love stuck teenager. I want to tell him so bad. _I opened my mouth to tell him and snapped it shut, turning to Alice.

"So Alice, where'd ya'll come from?" I asked her.

She smiled, "There's a little town up in Washington called Forks, it's almost always raining there and there's so many trees; not like here at all."

"This time of year, I doubt you'll see any rain around these parts." I admitted.

"Does it snow here often?" She asked.

"Not really. When it does, it usually doesn't stick for very long."

For the rest of lunch I sat while listening to the others discussed their summer vacations and plans for the upcoming weekend until the bell rang. Since everyone was going to the same class, we headed there together. Once we were in the classroom, Edward took the seat behind me, while Alice sat in the seat next to me. She was laughing slightly, watching Edward. When I turned around, I caught his eyes a moment before he looked down.

"Do I want to know?" I mouthed to Alice; she giggled, shaking her head.

Class started and I just wanted to laugh at the teacher's ideas on history. It's amazing how textbooks can glorify the worst of things. _Don't get into another argument._ I kept repeating to myself. In the past I've got into countless arguments with teachers about how things were in the past. Class was pretty boring, except for the feel of Edwards eyes on me. I could feel Stefan watching tensely from the back of the room. The last two classes went by very quickly. Gym was especially fun, since the coach just took us out to the track to run us around. When the final bell rang, I took my time getting everything together while the locker room emptied. Bonnie and Elena joined me while I was getting dressed into my cheerleading uniform, Caroline arriving a little later. Checking each other over, we headed out onto the field.

_Here we go._

I was delighted to see the turnout on the football team, including Jasper and Emmett, but no Edward. Stefan was throwing the football back and forth to Matt. That's when I saw him in the bleachers, watching me cross the field to the other cheerleaders. Even from this distance I could see the sun glittering off those emerald eyes.

On the other side of the field, Alice and Rosalie were talking with Elena, Bonnie and Caroline, who were also in uniform. There were a few other candidates, but only 2 girls were needed for a full squad.

"Okay ladies, let's get started!" I called.

Alice turned and squealed in excitement, "Why didn't you tell me?"

I smiled at her, "Surprise! Everyone get in a line now."

Tryouts went as expected. I was astonished at Rosalie's flexibility and Alice's enthusiasm. There were a few guys on the team, so we threw Alice up to see how well she could fly. After dismissing the other candidates, we started practicing a basic routine for the football games on the sideline. Halfway through the routine, I turned to find Edward, who was no longer in the stands, but on the field. During practice, every now and then I turned around watched him over my shoulder, not able to take my eyes off of him. After practice, most of the girls left, leaving Alice, Rosalie, Bonnie, Caroline and myself all huddled together on the bleachers to wait out the boys.

"Go Stefan!" I yelled, feeling a bit frisky, watching the boys working out so hard. Once I yelled, the other girls yelled for various players.

"So Bella, who was that dark and handsome guy you were with at the bar last night?" Rosalie asked shyly.

It took a minute to realize who she meant, "You mean Damon? He's my cousin, like Stefan there." I nodded towards Stefan, who was passing the football to Edward. Alice started laughing, falling back into the stands.

"What?"

**EPOV**

When I heard Bella speak Italian, my heart soared at the beauty in the language. Her behavior towards Stefan shocked me. I'd never seen someone who held such absolute authority, except perhaps Carlisle. Bella looked so small and frail, yet there's so much more to her. Only for that moment did she look much older than a high school student. The difference was shocking. The rest of the lunchtime conversation dwelled more on the weather and the exciting places people went over summer vacation.

Once the bell rang, everyone stood up and made their way down the hallway. Alice caught my arm, pulling me to the back of the group.

"Why don't you just ask her out already, Edward?" She whispered.

Rolling my eyes, "She doesn't even know me yet, Alice. What I know of her so far though…" my thoughts trailed off. Alice just looked at me and laughed, catching up with the others. I took the seat right behind Bella. She turned in her chair, but I looked down before our eyes met. I wanted to double check the rest of my schedule anyway. Class was pretty normal; the teacher outlined what we would be studying for the year. I was watching Bella almost the entire time. When class ended, I lingered a bit, watching everyone leave. My next two classes went quickly. I especially loved Italian. The teacher spoke the language well.

When the final bell rang, I grabbed what I needed from my locker and made my way out to the football field. I couldn't leave anyway because everyone was out on the field, so I thought it would be easier just to sit and watch them. Emmett and Jasper were wrestling with each other, falling over in a tangled mess. Chuckling, I watched them start to throw a football back and forth.

I watched Bella walk up the stairs from the gym, chatting with her friends. Her eyes scanned the field, suddenly sad until her eyes found mine; her face lit up. She rushed across the field in her tiny little uniform. _I never would have guessed she was a cheerleader._ I watched her go through the training routine with the potential cheerleaders, grinning at Rosalie's teasing Bella. It was good to see them all smiling so brightly. To give her credit, Bella eliminated the worst dancers quickly, selecting the five best for the final round. With those five lined up, Caroline and Elena stood, going through a routine twice, counting out as the others followed along. Bella walked around them carefully, watching each step as she continued to count. She stopped, picking Alice and Rosalie for the team, much as expected. Bella had a few boys pick up Alice, tossing her in the air. _I bet Alice loved that._

"Hey Edward, get down her!" Jasper yelled from the field. _What could it hurt?_ I thought. Football would be a nice distraction. I climbed down from the risers, hopping over the rail to the field.

"Heads up!" Stefan yelled, tossing me the ball, I caught it one handed.

"Great catch. You're Edward Cullen, right?" Stefan asked, walking up to me.

"Yea," I was feeling uneasy at his proximity. There was just something about him that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight. In the sunlight he looked paler than anyone I'd ever seen. I also noticed the ring on his hand had a huge blue stone in it. It reminded me of the stone on Bella's necklace. It reminded me of how much I wanted to talk to her.

Emmett had run far out into the field towards the cheerleaders. He yelled for me and put his arms up. I passed him the ball hard. He caught it and went flying into the mists of the cheerleaders on the sidelines.

"Hello ladies," he laughed loudly, look up at them.

"Emmett, over here!" Jasper yelled. Emmett stood up and passed the ball over to Jasper.

Smirking, Stefan turned back to me, "Okay, you Cullens can pass and catch, how about running long distance?"

The tests got more and more difficult, causing most of the people to give up and leave. Every now and then I'd turn to see Bella watching me over her shoulder. _What is it about her?_ I just couldn't get her out of my head. Suddenly, a football but me hard in the stomach; I put my hands up to grab it, turning to see who threw it. It was the guy who came into the bar with Stefan.

"Should I be asking your intentions towards my Bella?" Damon leered dangerously at Edward, smirking.

His phrasing shook me a bit. _His Bella? What the hell?!?_

"Damon," Stefan stepped back up to me, putting his body partly between Damon and me; his face was very serious.

"Hello brother," he answered without looking, his black eyes narrowing at me.

Stefan took a step forward, "Edward, this is my brother Damon." He then whispered something to Damon, making him quirk his eyebrow at me. Our eyes had locked the moment I saw him and I couldn't let go. Suddenly, I felt the need to protect Bella from this… man."

"Nice to meet you, Edward. I'm sure we will meet again." Damon barely disguised his threat in his voice as he turned away, walking towards the cheerleaders. He took a seat in the bleachers above them.

"Stefan, is he always like that?' I asked curiously.

Stefan smiled, "Only when it comes to Bella." His eyes turned towards her as she looked up towards them; as if someone had called her name. She looked away quickly, blushing.

"Beautiful," Stefan breathed.

I held back a surge of jealousy. If I felt that Bella was this irresistible, I was sure that others would as well. By the time tryouts were over, Emmett, Jasper and I all made the team, getting our pick of places. Practice began soon after as the coach took over and went over plays. From across the field, the girls were yelling for us. As soon as the coach whistled, the cheerleaders ran towards us. Caroline grabbed onto Matt's arm and pulled him away. Alice ran into Jasper's arms with a laugh. Those two were always fun to watch. Bonnie looked sideways at Emmett, staying close to Elena. Bella stayed back, not looking at anyone, her eyes focused on the trees.

"Damon, Stefan, we must go." She said it quietly, but both men walked over to where she was. She looked over to me sadly before walking away.

Alice appeared at my elbow, "They're her cousins, Edward." When I looked at her, one eyebrow raised, she repeated herself. "They are her cousins, Edward." She took me by the shoulder, laughing at my shocked expression. Still laughing, she tapped me on the noise before skipping off.

**Translations:**

_Spero che stiate per la sfida il mio amore. Sembra veramente interessato a te._

I hope you are up for the challenge my love. He seems genuinely interested in you.

_Non dire di più, Stefan_

Do not say more, Stefan


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris. And a quick warning, from here on, as before, I will be twisting and turning facts to fit my story. This is the raw version, so please excuse spelling and grammar.

Outfits for this chapter can be found on my profile.

PS: I need a name for this tiny little town… please send me any ideas.

**BPOV**

I looked past the football players to the woods and could hear someone out there. The wind carried a distinctive smell to it. Someone very familiar was out there.

"Damon, Stefan, we must go." I said quietly, knowing they both could hear me.

Looking at me oddly, but following me anyway, we headed to the car and went home. Once home, there was someone standing at our front door.

"Isabella, there you are. You have been sorely missed." The man bowed gently to me with a smirk on his face.

"Demetri," I replied stiffly, not wanting to be within a thousand miles of this man.

He took a knife out of his pocket and twirled it around. Damon jerked forward to protect me, but I had to push hard on his chest to keep him back. Whispering to him fast to keep him calm.

"What can I do for you?" I said, wanting to get rid of him as fast as I could.

He grinned, "Dearest Isabella," he walked forward, pacing around us, "you have been summoned immediately into Dallas. Fangtasia has been closed so that we may conduct our… business tonight."

"Why did they not send Eric? It is his bar?" stiffly, I replied.

"Eric is… busy at the moment. Plus, he would not tell us where to find you. So here I am." He bowed mockingly.

Sighing quietly, "Please give us a few moments to change our clothes, I do not wish to go there dressed like this."

He looked us over, "Five minutes, my lady."

I nodded coldly, turning to change into something more fitting my age than that of a high school student. I pulled on a long blue silk dress, slipping the straps over my shoulders slowly, turn in the mirror to admire the delicate weaving in the bodice only a moment before putting on several matching blue bracelets and silver colored earrings. Sitting on the bed, I bent over to fasten the buckle on the back of my heel when I heard a soft cough.

"Almost ready, beloved?" it was Stefan, standing with his arms crossed and gorgeous all in black.

"Yes." I muttered softly, bending to fix my other shoe. Before I could get down to it, I felt fingers on my ankle before I got to it. Leaning before me, I saw a pair of sparkling black eyes and a smirk as I bent back up. Damon was dressed as usual, all in black with his black leather jacket. _Like anyone could make him dress up. _I laughed to myself.

"Thank you," I blushed, looking over at the clock, then at his extended hand, taking it and standing. "Let's get this over with." I took his arm, then Stefan's as he extended his arm to me. As we made our way downstairs, Demetri was waiting at the base of the stairs, silently. Once outside, Damon let me go to unlock the car, opening the door and letting me get into the back with Stefan while Demetri and Damon were in the front. Watching Stefan, he put his hand over mine, reassuring me that all would be well without saying a word.

In next to no time we were sitting outside of Fangtasia. The building was in town, but wasn't connected to any other buildings. I couldn't see a place like this in a shopping center. When everyone unloaded, Demetri lifted his arm for me, which I placed my hand on softly wanting to touch him as little as possible. As we walked up to the door, Pam was standing guard in her usual Fangtasia get up, sending humans away, saying that tonight there is a private party.

Pam was grinning as we walked up, "Here comes trouble," she said to me before she realized Demetri was on my arm. The smiled wiped off her face as she stepped aside and let us in. I have known Pam since she was brought over. She is the closest thing that I have to a sister in the entire world.

The inside of Fangtasia had not changed since Eric and I had opened it many years ago. The bar was created so real vampires pretended to be humans playing vampires. Eric and I may disagree on many things, but this place was one thing we did agree on. There wasn't a night that this place wasn't totally packed and sales always went up when Eric would sit on his stage and 'pretend' to be himself. Once I realized that may visual age would make me too suspicious to own the bar, Eric took it over but still shares the profits with me. Last thing either of us needed was someone looking too closely into my background.

The decorations inside were black and red, all the seats were leather. Tonight there is no music playing and the tables from the center of the room were stacked on the walls, making it standing room only. Sitting on Eric's throne on the small stage was Aro. He glanced in our directly, nodding politely before returning to his survey of the room. Aro is one of the oldest vampires I have ever met and he leads of the Volturi, a large coven of vampires that base themselves in Italy, whom he shares his throne with two others, Caius and Marcus. If out kind had any royalty, they would be it. At the moment, they were travelling the globe searching for the oldest and wisest of vampires. A few other vampires appeared while we were waiting, including Eric and surprisingly Bill Compton along with his girlfriend Sookie. Sookie looked around the room for a moment before she saw me, eyes widening before she waved nervously. Towards the front I saw my boss, Sam Marlotte, who was learning against the far wall.

Aro rose from the throne and stood tall before the passive group, "Now that we are all here, I must inform you that it has become increasingly difficult for us to remain in hiding any longer. Old enchantments and spells have been long lost," he looked over at me quietly for a moment before continuing, "and with technology as it is today it will not be long until we are revealed for what we are. They will begin to track us, hunt us and eventually try to hunt us to extinction unless we take charge and organize what some have called out coming out party." He turned to Eric, who nodded and continued, "Our scientists have revealed a synthetic blood that we have been researching for some time now and technology finally allows us to mass produce. To humans, it could help countless patients in hospitals all over the world. To vampires, it will nourish us as human blood, so the humans will not see us as much of a threat." Watching the room, several vampires were smirking, many holding back laughter. Not one would laugh while Aro was speaking. "In the interest of self preservation, I believe it is our best interests to reveal ourselves to the world."

I stepped forward, "My Dearest Aro, when shall this reveal take place?" Several people gasped, not knowing who I was. It was expected since I had been in hiding for a very long time.

He looked me over silently, then bowed gently to me, "Ah, my lovely Lady Isabella. I am so glad that Demetri was able to find you. I must say, I have missed you at my side in Volterra. The great reveal will take place this Friday the thirteen. I am sure many will think we are joking, but I assure you we are going to be quite public about this… how did you put it, Eric… 'coming out of the coffin' party."

Many vampires stood to protest, but Aro raised his hands for silence.

"It has already been decided. This meeting was to decide who from this area would be a part of the news broadcast." He turned his head, looking straight at me. Being one of the only vampires alive, or dead in our case, that could still hide; I shook my head only slightly to decline his offer. His face fell, disappointed, as he turned back to others. No one had volunteered.

"Is it really that hard a decision to make?" Aro stepped off the stage, touching shoulders as he walked through the crowd. He stood between me and a much younger vampire that I didn't know, touching his wrist. He looked over to me reaching out his hand, "May I?"

I reached out my hand and placed it in his as he closed his eyes. After a few moments he laughed and clapped his hands, delighted.

"We will see each other again, my lady, and soon. I would like to see how you have managed to evade me for so many years," then he sighed, "and still as silent as always." He stepped back and bowed gently before taking the other vampire by the shoulder and heading towards the stage.

"You may all go back to your lives." He waved us off as he sat back down in Eric's chair and folded his legs, watching everyone leave with great interest.

Sookie walked up to me as we finally got outside, "We need to talk and soon." She turned back to Bill and they went to their car.

Damon had disappeared as soon as we got outside and was waiting next to his car with it running by the curb.

Before I could get in the car, Sam called to me from the door. "Bella!" Around him, several vampires hissed when they realized who he meant. "Bella, if this is really going to happen, I want you at the bar on Friday to help keep the peace. If you can, could you bring your companions with you?" He looked over my shoulder to Stefan, who was still close and Damon who was already sitting in the car.

That's when it set in what was really happening… I wanted to faint right then and there, but the thought of no more lies made me happier than I could bear. I had never had to hide in the shadows like so many other vampires, but to truly be what I was… I couldn't bear the thought of it.

"I can't, Sam, I'm sorry. I'm sure Bill will be there though. I have a football game I have to be at." I know it was selfish, but I couldn't help it. I had made a life here and I wasn't ready to give it up yet. Any other time I'd would pack up and leave or do what needed to be done. I just couldn't picture being anywhere but where Edward was. _He's making me think like a human._ In most ways I hated that, but something deep inside me was thrilled. _He's going to be the final death of me._

The drive out of town and toward home was very quiet. Aro had given us much to think about and not much time to consider what had be to done before the deadline. We were the only vampires in this small little town, but I knew that in impact would be rather traumatic for everyone involved. Once back at home, Damon got out of the car, putting his hand back to stop me from getting out.

"Stay in the car," he hissed, disappearing towards the porch. There was a flash a red in the woods and he was gone, chasing after the mysterious vampire again. After what seemed like forever, he returned.

"She's gone," he said, holding out his hand to help me out of the back seat as Stefan practically flew around the car.

With a sigh, heading into the house, "Whoever she is, I wish she would just leave me alone." There was something about her scent that threw me off though. I couldn't tell exactly where she came from, but it wasn't from anywhere close to here.

**EPOV**

I was still watching Bella walk away when Alice told me the news. _The way they treat her… they can't be her cousins. But why would Alice tell me they were?_

"Alice, how can you be sure?" I had to ask her. I had to be sure.

Alice only laughed in my face, "I'm sure, Edward, she told me herself during practice. Well, told Rosalie anyway. It seems our sister has a thing for her cousin Damon."

I turned, looking down at her with narrow eyes, "There's something about that man that just doesn't seem right. He all but jumped me earlier just for looking at Bella."

Her smile fading, Alice too my chin in her tiny hand, "He's only human, remember. And he's only her cousin, so don't let him get in your way if you want to go after her. From what I could gather, their parents died a few years back and they all live in an old boarding house. Sometimes they take in others, but in a town this small it's very rare.

"Later bro, I've got to get to work!" Emmett yelled across the field, running to his truck.

Jasper walked up to us, putting his arm around Alice, "Ready to go?" We both gathered out stuff and headed home.

Now before anyone gets the wrong idea, I need to explain something here. My mother, Esme, can't have any children so she fostered the lot of us early on. Each of us comes from a different family except for Rosalie and Jasper, who are twins. Myself, I couldn't even remember my birth parents; Carlisle and Esme were the only parents I had ever known. Emmett, Alice and I took the Cullen name when they officially adopted us, but Rosalie and Jasper still held their original name of Hale. For a while there, Rosalie and Emmett were an item and he still adores her, but it quickly turned into only a friendship.

Once inside the house, I looked around at all the boxes that needed to be put up. I went upstairs and unpacked my small amount of books and music, setting some of the paintings that I've been able to buy on the walls before heading down for dinner. On my way out the door, I stopped to look at the painting by the door that I had forgotten I had. The lines were thin and graceful. It was a very old print of a woman laying down in a meadow with the wind blowing in the trees. I had always loved it because you could almost hear the wind as it hit the trees. Looking closer at it, my jaw dropped in amazement.

"Bella…" I whispered, reaching up to touch the woman's face. I shook my head and laughed. _You're losing it, Cullen. Soon you're going to be seeing Bella everywhere you go._

I couldn't help but laugh, going downstairs to eat. Dinner was usual and almost everything was at least out of boxes. After dinner, everyone helped clean up and put away the remainder of the boxes that were in the living room. When I finally got a chance to walk in there, Emmett's legs were sticking out of the TV cabinet as he hooked up the stereo system. I just laughed, walking over to my most favorite thing in the house.

I sat down on the bench, pressing my fingers slowly over the keys, not really knowing what I was playing at first. The ivory colored keys were cold under my fingers. I started playing a song that I had written ages ago for Esme, knowing it would help the mood this evening. She came up behind me, putting her hand on my shoulder as she listened. I thought about Bella, school and even football practice as I played quietly for her. Then the sound I heard of the wind blowing in the painting came to me again and my song slipped into something totally different… something softer. I wasn't even really thinking about what I was playing anymore, I just followed what I was feeling. I looked over to Esme and stopped suddenly when I realized she was crying.

"What is it?" I asked her quietly and confused.

She sighed happily, "It's been so long since you've written anything new, Edward. That song is so beautiful. May I inquire on what inspired it?"

Instantly my face flushed and I turned away. "The painting of the girl in the meadow that you bought for me right after I was adopted… I can almost hear it. If that makes any sense. I was hearing it in my mind as I was playing and I couldn't break away from it."

She smiled, patting me on the shoulder, "Maybe you should play it again and write it down. Something like that shouldn't be lost."

"I don't think I could forget that song. I do think I should go to bed though, school tomorrow."

"Yes," she nodded as I stood, patting me on the back again as I made my way upstairs.

When I entered my room, I looked over at the painting once more before falling into a dreamless sleep. I woke the next morning late, running downstairs after as everyone was already finished eating.

"Hurry up, sleepy head," Rosalie was teasing, tossing me an apple as I pulled my jacket on. Today I took my own car, while everyone else piled into Jasper's car. Once at school, as I stepped through the main doors at school, my eyes scanned for Bella, catching her bent over a drawing tablet on the stairs. Bonnie was sitting next to her, watching her intently while Stefan was behind her, one hand on her back. The buzzing in my head was getting worse. I had first noticed it last night at dinner, but I shook it off as nothing. This morning is was almost as if something was alive in my ear, buzzing away.

As I approached, Bella looked up at me and smiled, "Good morning, Edward."

She seemed deep into her work. I came up to sit on her other side, looking down at what she was drawing. What I saw there was jaw dropping. She turned to look at me and giggled.

"What's wrong, Edward?" she asked innocently.

"You draw very beautifully, Bella. I would love to see more of your work, if you're willing to show me."

"I'd love to," she turned back to her work, adding a line to the portrait she was drawing. The image looked so real was so real, the man's face jumped out of the page. The picture was a charcoal sketch of a dark haired man with deadly looking eyes. He was dressed in what looked like a suit, but she had only drawn him to just below the shoulders. I turned my head to look at him more closely, not realizing how close to Bella I was getting. I heard Bella take a sharp gasp for breath as I turned, my face inches from her. She had closed her eyes and was biting her lip. Stefan looked up at me from behind her, his hand going from her back to her shoulder. I held still only a moment and then jerked back.

"I'm so sorry Bella, I didn't realize," I backed up, scooting over and taking a bite of my apple. Her reaction puzzled me for a moment until I remembered what Alice had told me the day before. I was about to ask her out on a date, but before I could get any words out the bell rang.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris.

The painting I had in mind here and last chapter is by John William Waterhouse: Ophelia (Lying in the Meadow), but painted from further away so you can see more of the trees. It's a very beautiful painting. Something posed like that, but not that exact painting. The songs of course are from the play Man of La Mancha.

**BPOV**

Every time I turned around there was someone else standing in the shadows. The dark no longer scared me; it was as if it was waiting for me to do something. There was no light, no sound, no movement, nothing. I opened my eyes slowly, shaking off the dream. Looking around the room I noticed that nothing had changed since the previous evening. _I hate dreams like that! _I admitted to myself, rolling over and falling back asleep.

This time the dream started different as I fell back against the warm summer grass. I was in a large meadow surrounded by trees with flowers all around me in full bloom. My hands caressed the grass blade by blade, feeling the very sun in each blade. _I'm back! _I remembered this meadow very well. I had had this dream since I was originally here long ago and once every few years it would repeat itself. Just like in the past, I would be in my meadow that I loved. I could feel the grass under my body, the humming of the earth and hear the wind blowing in the trees. When I was really here the last time, Stefan had painted me lying down near the trees by the edge of the wood with my head turning back towards him. That same painting now hung in the living room downstairs. This meadow was the one place that I could relax and be who I really am. Unlike my other dreams, I suddenly heard the light snap of a twig. Sitting up slowly, I turned towards the noise and Edward was standing in the shadows near the trees watching me. He stepped out wordlessly and joined me in the grass, sitting down next to me. In total silence we sat together, not touching, just enjoying the sun and the sounds around us.

When I finally woke, it was more slowly. As I went downstairs after washing I noticed Damon was already up and in the library. He was leaning back in his chair with a glass of something red in his hand.

"Good morning, my dear. Would you like something to drink this morning?" he asked with an eyebrow and glass rose to me.

"What is it?"

He looked at the glass and then at me with a lightly hurt expression, "Since you won't let me hunt humans, it's deer."

I walked over to him and put my hand on his shoulder, "I think I will then. As for the humans… that may change if this announcement doesn't go well."

"We can only hope that it does," Stefan added as he walked in, backpack over his shoulder.

"That makes one of us, brother," Damon eyed me and winked. As I took the glass from his hand, his other hand caught me and held on. He gave me a penetrating look but said nothing before letting go with a sigh, his eyes never leaving me.

"Time to go, Isabella," Stefan said with a cough, shaking me out of Damon's stare.

Once inside the car, I pulled out my bag to go through it. _I wish he wouldn't do that to me. He knows that I love him but after so many years together… I don't know what to so._ I couldn't think straight, so I went through though my homework to see if I forgot anything. There was a sketch that I had to do for art class and it would only take a few minutes for me to do it. _Of course you'd forget that, silly girl. This Edward Cullen and that nomad have you too distracted._

"Stefan, why do you stay with me? You know you can leave anytime you want to." I asked him quietly, not really sure I'd want to know the answer.

Half turning on his seat while driving, Stefan only looked at me briefly before focusing on the road.

"You know why, Isabella, you've always known. I know you can protect yourself, but the way you smell attracts too many creatures. You told me once that even when you were human you attracted things that aren't human. You must be protected, Bella, at all costs. I used to believe that one day I could leave you, but the mere thought of that pains me. When this all started for Damon and I we vowed to protect you. That vow means as much now as it did then."

"Stefan, that was over five hundred years ago. You both know if I really was in trouble, I could just disappear."

"Time has little meaning for us. You are the one who taught me that. Even if you release my vow I would still protect you. You are the one I love the most in the world." His voice turned quiet.

I couldn't look at him this time. Every few years we'd have this conversation and there was no way I was talking him out of it.

"What about Elena?" I asked.

His face hardened, "She's more interested in that Jacob guy from the reservation."

Just the thought of Elena with Jacob made me laugh. "Maybe you can make her change her mind," I told him with a grin. His face lightened at the thought.

That was one of the perfect things about Stefan. He might fight me on it, but I could always tell when he fell in love. It had been so long for him. He would never admit it to me for fear of hurting me but I knew, even without being able to feel his emotions.

Once we were at school, Stefan opened my door for me and we went inside to the stairs to sit. Stefan took his seat behind me as Elena sat next to me, Bonnie on the step below her.

"Did you hear the news, Bella? Someone went on a killing spree last night. The police found three bodies in City Park," Elena turned to me in a rush, "the police report said that they were drained of blood."

Only for a moment did I think of Damon and the glass he had given me this morning. That blood was definitely not human though. The vampires in our area and those at Aro's meeting knew better than to hunt in our area and definitely know not to kill anyone. That left the nomad.

"She's not alone," I whispered softly and then louder, "I hadn't heard about that. That is awful." I took out my sketchbook out, "I've got to get this sketch done for Mrs. Garrett, and she'll have a cow if I have nothing to turn in." I hated using phrases like that.

Elena laughed at me, "You better hurry the, girl. You know how she can be."

I opened the sketchbook, leaning back against Stefan's hand as I started sketching random lines. The more lines I put on paper, the more they took shape. Amazingly, Aro's face appeared within the lines I had so I simply continued the sketch.

I heard Edward when he came in. When I looked up his face looked pained and slightly confused. As he walked up to our little group I looked at him and smiled.

"Good morning, Edward," I felt foolish at how good it felt to say his name.

I bent back over my sketch, adding the tiny details I never really took the time to add. Edward sat down next to me, peering at what I was sketching. For a moment he could only gape at me so I giggled. When I asked him what was wrong he only complimented my work and asked to see more. It took me a minute to regain my calm before I answered.

"I'd love to," I said with a faint flush as I continued the sketch.

Edward had leaned over to take a closer look at the portrait, but I didn't notice until I suddenly felt Stefan's hand on my shoulder. I took in a painfully sharp gasp of breath as I felt the heat of his skin close to my cheek. He turned towards me as if just noticing himself, but I had closed my eyes to concentrate on keeping calm before I could see his eyes. When he jerked back I relaxed a little, but his scent was still lingering all around me. He quickly apologized for violating my space, taking a bite out an apple. I simply remained frozen except for the final lines on the sketch until the bell rang.

I was on my feet before I could blink and made my way to my first class. When I handed in my sketch of Aro, my teacher accused me of tracing it from a book. We argued some until I simply pulled out my sketchbook, showing her a blank page plainly so she could see it. Within ten minutes I turned the page back around to show her an incredibly lifelike portrait of her.

"Satisfied, Mrs. Garrett?" I tore the page off and handed it to her, rubbing some of the charcoal off one of my fingers.

It took her a moment to answer, "Thank you, Miss Swann. I look forward to seeing more of your work this year."

I only nodded to her as class started. The other classes flew by until theatre class. We were paired up to do lines from _Man of La Mancha._ This has always been one of my favorite songs, but when I saw Dale Earnhardt in this video I just went nuts! I love it!! The teacher wanted to prove that the whole year would not be Shakespeare. The room filled with everyone talking at once while they practiced their lines. For the most part people were skipping the music.

Since I knew the play very well, I took the part of Aldonza to Edwards Don Quixote. Like the rest of the class we skipped the music. I've always loved this play, but wasn't sure if I could sing with Edward so near. The songs always affected me deeply for some reason. During out back and forth our eyes never left one another. I felt like I was caught up in a spell.

"Okay class,, would anyone wish to make a venture with the music?" she asked while looking around the room. "Anyone at all?" When no one answered, she pointed to me, "Bella. Would you sing," flipping through the pages of the play, "_The Impossible Dream, _please."

As I nodded, I stood and left my script on the stage next to Edward. As I started the song, it was speaking first, then song.

_To dream the impossible dream  
To fight the unbeatable foe  
To bear with unbearable sorrow  
To run where the brave dare not go_

_To right the unrightable wrong  
To love pure and chaste from afar  
To try when your arms are too weary  
To reach the unreachable star_

_This is my quest  
To follow that star  
No matter how hopeless  
No matter how far_

_To fight for the right  
Without question or pause  
To be willing to march into Hell  
For a heavenly cause_

_And I know if I'll only be true  
To this glorious quest  
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm  
When I'm laid to my rest_

I looked up at the teacher, quite sure I had sang enough and smiled as I noticed her signaling me to stop.

"I see you are a fan of this play, Miss Swann."

I nodded, taking my seat next to Edward without looking at him. He stood, watching the teacher and also leaving his playbook.

"Edward, since you're Bella's partner, I'd like to see how much you have learned from her today; please sing us Dulcinea."

He only nodded, turning and taking my hands before he began. His touch sent a shock through my entire body.

_I have dreamed thee too long,  
Never seen thee or touched thee.  
But known thee with all of my heart.  
Half a prayer, half a song,  
Thou hast always been with me,  
Though we have been always apart._

Dulcinea... Dulcinea...  
I see heaven when I see thee, Dulcinea,  
And thy name is like a prayer  
An angel whispers... Dulcinea... Dulcinea! 

Edward let goes of my hands and turned back to the teacher. His voice was so fluid and musical that I shook me to my core. I got lost in the song as he sang and couldn't find my way back. As the bell rang, I got up, feeling like I was on autopilot and worked my way to the lunchroom. I could feel both Edward and Stefan's watchful eyes on me as I worked my way through the crowded halls. They were watching every little move I made very carefully and I couldn't understand why. I felt fine… a little dazed, perhaps, but fine. My body just didn't want to respond to what my mind was screaming at me.

"Is she okay?" I heard Edwards voice behind me.

Stefan was whispering to me quietly to try and stay calm and bring me back. I knew he could feel the conflicted emotions inside me and was trying his best to snap me out of it. He looked back to Edward for a moment, then back at me.

"Give her a little time, Edward, I'm sure she'll be fine." His voice remained calm, but I could feel the panic coming from him.

**EPOV**

The morning classes seemed to go by so slowly. I was impatient and often tapping my foot as I waited for the bell to ring. I couldn't stand waiting to see her again. It still awed me how I could fall for someone this fast and not know that much about her. She was like something out of a dream. My mind kept going back to that painting on the wall. I never did know who painted it and the gallery that Carlisle bought it from said artist unknown. I think someday soon I should research that or I could speak with the art teacher; maybe that would have an idea.

When I finally saw Bella, she was sitting on the stage drawing eyes on a scrap of paper. This time I kept my distance, waving to Alice and Stefan as I sat next to her quietly. Today we were going to do Man of La Mancha lines. I was very happy about that since I knew that play and the movie very well. As the teacher told us to pick pairs, I noticed that Bella reached for Stefan, but Alice got to him first. She then turned to me with a smile.

"Would you, Edward?" she picked up her playbook that the teacher was handing out.

"Of course, Bella," I replied calmly, looking into her eyes. Something inside me felt instantly better in that moment.

As we went through the lines, skipping the music so no one could hear how tone-deaf I was, Bella's voice got more and more accented; as if trying to match the Dulcinea of the play. She hardly looked down at her book as she read the lines. I could hear in her voice the emotions behind the words she said. Sometimes it seemed like she wanted to yell the lines, just as Dulcinea did, but she kept her voice steady as if reading a weather report.

When the teacher asked Bella to sing she stood quietly, unfolding her arms. I was surprised at how passionate and soft her voice was in song. As she finished, I could only stare at her, noticing Stefan was doing the same. _Quit that, Cullen. You need to get the courage to ask her. _The teacher pointed to me, waving me to stand and asked me to sing as well. Needing someone to focus on, I turned to Bella, taking her hands in mine. Her touch sent a jolt through my system that I could feel all the way to my toes. I could tell by her eyes that she felt it was well. In that moment I could hear people talking all around me clearly, but began my song anyway. Bella was totally still as I sung, almost as if the shock that hit me had frozen her solid. When I let go of her, her hands fell to her sides limply.

As class ended, Stefan rose, taking Bella's arm as he led her to the lunchroom. I fell into step just behind her, suddenly very worried about her. The voices around me were getting louder and louder as I tried to pinpoint them. I recognized a few of them, but when I saw them, they weren't talking.

_What the hell is going on here?_

Every time I heard someone, I looked over to them and nothing. It was almost as if I could read their minds. Alice was thinking about pouncing on Bella and hoping Bella would let her eat with her table again. She was worried about me, since I had such a weird expression on my face. Then of course she was distracted by a pair of wranglers before she noticed it was Jasper and pounced on him.

"Bella!!" A girl came running at us with a friend in tow, "I'm so sorry we missed you yesterday. Dad only got us back last night and we were going nuts that we wouldn't be able to make it to tryouts."

"Hey Jessica. Hey Angela." Bella looked over at them only a moment, her voice sounding strange.

Jessica and Angela looked over at Stefan who just shook his head slowly. The two girls ran to take two seats at by Alice before everyone else sat down. Everyone was subdued with Bella in the daze. It seemed like everyone was watching her; as if waiting for her to snap out of it. Stefan kept one hand on the small of her back protectively, but ate quietly. Bella was just picking at her food without looking up. I was suddenly assaulted my more thoughts, mostly concerns about Bella. I turned to each person as I caught the thought and decided I really was hearing them. I concentrated on Bella, trying to hear her… silence. Next to her, I tried to hear Stefan but all I heard was something soft and fast, almost like it was blurred. Alice stood, putting her hand on Bella's bare shoulder, trying to shake her out of her funk.

"Bell…" Alice suddenly stopped, her body stiffening as if jolted like I was. I could see in her head a strange picture, but I couldn't make out what it was. Jasper jumped out of his seat, wrapping his arm around her waist. She snapped out of it instantly, shaking her head.

"That was weird…" she shook her head, "Bella, you need to snap out of this."

Suddenly Bella's eyes cleared, "Out of what, Alice?" She looked over at me and smiled, blushing just a bit. "I'm fine ya'll, really. Guess I just need some food or something."

Stefan's eyes were furious as he turned from me to Alice to Bella, bending to her and whispering something I couldn't hear. Bella only pushed him back, ignoring him the rest of lunch. Angela snapped off a few pictures of my family, claiming they were for the school paper, while Jessica talked nonstop the entire time she was with us. I tried to meet Bella's eyes several times, but I couldn't seem to catch her. She talked very little and only in short phrases, but she seemed more herself.

In history she didn't even say one word unless she was called on. You could see in her eyes she wanted to talk though. Once school was over, I made my way to music appreciation. The teacher was standing by the door, watching everyone. Several people were already dancing in the middle of the room, including Bella. Dancing with her eyes closed, she had a pen in one hand and a list in the other. As I approached, a slow blush crept across her face and she suddenly spun, twirling to me.

"Dance with me, Edward." As her hands took mine I was shocked again, but this time it was bad my knees nearly gave out. The look on her face was curious, her eyes lighting up as we danced together. Once everyone was there, Bella turned off the music and sat down on top of one of the desks, explaining that this was a club about music and dance. Everyone talked about their favorite music and Bella played all sorts on a portable radio that was next to her on the desk. By the end of it, the group had turned into 'who's this artist' as Bella randomly picked songs. I could guess most of them, but almost all the time I let others at least try to guess before I said it. Bella's eyes lit up every time I answered.

"Okay, time to go home now. Be careful, we're supposed to have a bad storm tonight." She told everyone as she packed up the equipment. As the teacher came in, the two went over lists for next weeks meeting.

After the club meeting, I waited by her car, hoping I could talk to her at least once more before she left. I would have waited for her all night, but Alice was tapping her foot by my car since she had stayed behind as well.

"I know you're waiting for her, Edward, but we need to get home." With a sigh, I got in my car and we went home.

"You know there's that field trip to the museum on Friday. Were you going to go? From what the other kids tell me it should be fun! "

"Yea, I heard about that," I answered, though I wasn't too excited about the trip. "Alice, did you happen to see where Bella went?"

"No, not really. I did hear Stefan talking about going on a hike, though, so she probably went with him." She shrugged, opening her book and reading it all the way home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris.

I threw in an extra point of view in this chapter so you can see what's really going on.

**EPOV**

The next morning went as usual; Alice and Emmett were teasing me all the way to school about Bella while Rosalie and Jasper drove in a separate car. Alice hung both her arms over the seats and hung her head between them, pointing all people as we drove past them.

"Are you excited about this field trip yet, Edward?" Alice asked in a rush.

"Definitely. It's a whole day away from school for one thing, but to be able to see history right there in front of you. Imagine what we could learn if those walls could talk."

Emmett just laughed, "You really need to get out more, bro. I think being inside is starting to fry your brain."

Since I was driving, I only shrugged, "I like history, what can I say."

Alice rolled her eyes and yelped, pointing to a parking spot. I looked around the parking lot for Bella's car, but it wasn't anywhere in sight. Once inside, the stairs were totally empty, but Bella's friends were standing around them.

"Bella's late. This is so unlike her," Caroline was tapping her foot impatiently as I walked up.

I turned away from the stairs to stand where I had that first day, against the wall by the stairs. I watched the group in amazement as none of them would sit down unless Bella was here. _That's a bit strange. _It bewildered me how much loyalty the girl had in her friends. The bell rang and no Bella. None of my first few classes were near hers so I had to wait until forth period. I was so anxious and out of it that I was nailed in the head with a volleyball during gym. I told the teacher I was fine even though I felt a little light headed. Every so often I'd catch a stray thought and I turned as if someone had said something to me. Several people were thinking that it was strange that Bella was not here.

When I finally got to theater there was still no Bella. Just before the bell rang, she came running in with Stefan and surprisingly Damon just behind her. Since most of the stage was taken, she sat in a bean bag chair in the back of the room. I couldn't see her face; she had it half hidden by her hair.

"Class, I'd like you to meet Damon Salvatore. He'll be out student teacher for the next few weeks. For the most part he will be watching class here and perhaps some others as well."

Although I couldn't see her, I knew it had to be Bella. When I tried to listen to her mind all I could hear was that faint whispering again. Strangely enough, that's all I heard from Stefan and his brother too. Class went quietly, everyone reading this time. Every now and then I'd look up at Bella, but she never looked up from her book. Stefan stayed very close to her, touching her hand or her back almost the entire time.

When lunch rolled around, Bella sat at her usual table, but didn't eat anything. Stefan was still close and I could see Damon leaning against the glass wall nearby. I guess his smirk was for all the swooning girls that passed him. Bella had her head in her arms, looking dead to the world. I sat down next to her, putting my food in front of me. I wanted to take her hand, but after what happened yesterday I didn't think that was a good idea. She had been acting strangely since that first touch.

"Bella," I said to her quietly.

"When she didn't respond, Caroline piped in, "She was probably up studying all night again, Edward. Let her sleep."

I looked over at Stefan, who was watching Bella, and then over to Damon, who was watching me. Suddenly I felt as if Bella was made of glass… so breakable. Elena and Jessica arrived late, Elena sitting on the other side of Stefan and Jessica next to Alice. Alice turned to look at me and rolled her eyes. Suddenly she froze; her eyes glossing over.

"Edward," she whispered, reaching out to me.

Bella's head snapped up. She looked just as beautiful as before, but had a lot more color to her cheeks. Her eyes were more like liquid chocolate now. Alice tightened her grip on my hand, digging her nails in.

"Edward," she repeated.

That's when I saw it in my head. The faces were all blurry, but they were all attacking one person. I couldn't tell who she was or what she was wearing, but by the way she moved she was definitely a female. There were so many around her, most of them had strange red eyes.

Alice let go of me, shaking her head, "What the heck was that?"

"What happened, Alice? What did you see?' Bella sat up straighter, leaning across the table at Alice.

"Is that what that was? Did Alice have some sort of vision?" I could barely believe what I saw in her head. It was almost like a daydream, but it seemed that Alice had no control over this, whatever it was.

"It was nothing," Alice lied, still shook up by it.

Stefan bent forward to talk to Alice, but Bella put her arm out, pushing him back. She turned and looked straight at me with penetrating eyes. _She knows. I don't know how, but she knows. _

"We need to talk. Very soon." Bella whispered.

As if only now seeing what was around her, Bella reached into her bad and took out a bag of chips.

**DPOV**

**(Note: This takes place in the middle of last chapter)**

Isabella was in trouble, I could feel it. I just wish that she'd forget this while high school thing so we could get out of this rinky-dink place and have some real fun. I am so sick of pretending to be something I'm not. I only would have to wait a few more days if what Aro said still stands. No more pretending and no more seeing Isabella hurt by having to lie to all these pathetic humans.

I followed Isabella's call as I was running through the possibilities in my mind of what was to come. She wasn't very hard to find since all I had to do was follow my overprotective brother's trail. Isabella's scent was almost completely hidden. _Good, Stefan is doing his job. I just wish he'd protect her from herself. I knew I shouldn't have listened to her and made her hunt._

Before that meeting not many people knew about Isabella's connection to Stefan and I. I guess the cats out of the bag now.

"There she is…" I muttered, looking into the window of her classroom from the lawn outside. I saw her holding hands with that idiot Cullen. I couldn't understand what she was feeling and could feel her power strongly even through the wall. _What has he done to her? _She wasn't in pain, but I felt her confusion and overwhelming hunger. I could feel the click when she snapped and shut down before attacking the whole room full of children. _Just once I'd like to see her hunt and take down one of these stupid humans. She does seem to care deeply for this one though; I wonder why. I don't like it at all! She's lived too long to be brought down by a human child! _I could feel the growl building deep in my chest as I grabbed the window frame, threatening to tear it off the building. Pulling back from the window, I hid in the shadows watching her until school was out.

"Hello brother. Dearest Isabella." I winked as I walked up to them, my hands behind my back.

"We are going hiking, Damon, now," Stefan snatched up his books, turning to me.

I shrugged, "Why do you think I'm here, brother. Since you cannot care properly for her I will."

Bella turned and snapped out of it and yelled, "I can take care of myself, Damon! "

"Obviously not, dearest Isabella, not after what you did to poor Edward and Alice."

She growled dangerously at me, "They were already using their powers well before I touched them. My power only made them stronger and more aware of their gifts."

Quirking an eyebrow, I added, "Or you made it to where they will be driven insane."

She growled lower, bending into a crouch, "You are armed Damon, do not make me punish you."

"I'd rather you take better care of yourself and eat, my love. You could have killed that poor boy and where would that have gotten us? When was the last time you drank anything more than a glass?"

"Damon!" Stefan snapped.

Ignoring Stefan, I took Isabella by the chin to look into her eyes, "Let's hunt. You're so beautiful when you let loose."

I turned; taking her hand in mine even though she was glaring at me she accepted it. I could feel the overwhelming hunger eating at her. We went into the woods and began to run quicker than any human can. The further from town we got, the more alive Isabella was looking. Her face brightened up and her face burned with who she was. Seeing Isabella like this always amazed and frightened me. Stefan kept up with us, but kept back far enough to allow her the hunt. Lately she had been hunting less and less, but I knew how much she loved it. She was absolutely breathtaking. She stopped suddenly, taking in deep breathes before striking her prey with no warning at all. _Breathtaking. _

The next morning, I told Isabella that I would be watching her more closely and what I had in mind. She fought with me on it, but I was not going to let her get this weak again.

**BPOV**

The hunt last night took longer than I thought. Both Damon and Stefan wouldn't let me go anywhere until I ate. Sometimes their over protectiveness really grated my nerves. I could see their point though, I hadn't eaten in over three weeks and my body had almost completely shut off to protect itself. True, at my age I didn't read to eat as often, but I just didn't see the need to eat anymore.

It was already well into the day when we returned home. Since my clothes were in shreds, I took a quick shower and changed. As we signed in, Damon convinced the secretary to write him out an agenda so he would have a valid reason for being in my classes with me as the bell rang. Stefan held the door open as we rushed to class. I kept my head down, not ready to see his face yet.

"He's here," Stefan told me, too low for humans to hear as we rushed through the door.

Damon went to the teacher to explain things to her. I only glared at him as he made his way to the back of the room. When the teacher introduced him many turned back to look at Stefan and many at surprise to see me suddenly sitting there. I could see Alice happily hopping in her spot on the stage. Today's class was simply ready the play from yesterday so we could be more familiar with it. Once the bell rang, Stefan and Damon escorted me to lunch. I sat down and put my head in my arms no longer wanting to fell the emotions all around me. Now that I've eaten it was like turning the radio up full blast and breaking off the knob so you couldn't turn it down. I made a vow right then not to go hungry again for so long; going through this mess was not something I wanted to do again. I shut off all noise so my head would stop hurting, so I couldn't hear what was going on around me.

I suddenly felt Stefan stiffen behind me. My head shot up, looking quickly to Stefan first then Alice.

"Edward," her voice was despairing. I could feel her confusion and anguish.

When Alice shook out of her vision I asked her what she saw, but she lied to me thinking if she told me she would be crazy. Stefan was going to ask her, but I pushed him back thinking of a better way. Turning to Edward, I looked directly into his eyes. I wanted to touch his cheek so much but held back. I had done enough damage to these Cullens as it was.

"We need to talk. Soon." I told him, making my voice as sweet as I could.

I felt Stefan's hand go to my back, trying to relax me; it helped, I'll admit it. Edward only stared at me as I ate part of my chips. History class went quietly as did the rest of the day. When the final bell rang I made my way to the theater room. Raking out my notes, I looked over the signup sheets for art. Dismayed, I saw only a few people signed up for the Art Club, but all of those members were in the Drama Club. _Excellent._

I sat on the teacher's desk, Damon sitting in the teacher's chair with he had convinced the theater teacher to let him lead the Drama Club. A few people looked startled to see the two of is sitting there like that.

"Let's get started. I hope ya'll don't mine me mixing two clubs here. Since I didn't get enough members for the Art Club, I'd like to mix Drama with Art."

No one protested, but many nodded.

"The gall play is still a ways away so we have plenty of time. Since the class is choosing _Taming of the Shrew_ for their Fall play we can skip that one here until auditions begin. What I need to know is what ya'll would like to do as our play."

Alice jumped up, "I'd like to do a love story."

"How about _Queen of the Damned_," Damon remarked with a grin. I suppressed my growl, but Stefan knocked his feet off the desk a little too hard.

"I like the idea of a love story," I said quietly, tapping on my chin. "Any ideas?"

"_Great Expectations," _someone chirped.

"I'd kind of like a Cinderella type story; something where the prince meets his princess and doesn't know who she really is. I think that would be fun. Not to mention I've always wanted to ballroom dance." Bonnie suggested.

I looked over to Edward, "What do you think, Edward?"

"I think that would be a lot of fun. A period play is always a joy to do. Costumes may be a pain, but I'm pretty sure we can do it."

I smiled at him, "Okay. Now all we need are the rolls and a name for Cinderella."

"How about Isabella?" Damon added.

I threw my notebook at Damon, which he caught.

"I'm serious. We all know how well you can cat. Personally, I'd love to see you in the part. Not to mention how well you'd fit in period clothing."

As I looked around the room, all heads were nodding except for Stefan who simply winked.

"Fine, I'll do it," I sighed, "but her name will not be Isabella. How about… Elizabeth?"

"Perfect!" Alice yelled.

"Do I get to pick my prince or will there be a vote?"

"Vote," Damon stood up, walking over to the chalkboard, "Who wants the part?"

Stefan, Edward and Matt all raised their hands. When voting started it was clear that Matt was out of the race. Stefan and Edward were tired in the end. Since Damon wouldn't allow me to vote, he broke the tie and voted for Edward. Edward reached out to take my hands, but I snaked them back without thinking.

"You know if we do this, you will have to touch me, Bella," Edward told me, smiling.

"I know."

I knew that if this play still went on as planned it would have a whole new meaning by the time we premiered. Edward left just as Damon dismissed everyone. Once I was outside, I saw him leaning against the side of my car.

"Would you excuse me for a few minutes, guys?" I told Stefan and Damon. They left me alone with Edward; he was tossing an apple like a baseball. I noticed he tended to do that when he was nervous.

"Bella," he said quietly.

"Edward," I avoided his gaze.

"Bella Bella Bella," he repeated, shaking his head with a laugh. "Would you go out with me tomorrow night?"

"You don't even know me, Edward."

"I'm willing to learn. From what I've seen of you so far I am more than willing to learn all there is to know about you."

"Are you sure?" Talk about a loaded question.

"Yes."

"Then yes."

"Good. Six o'clock then. I'll pick you up at the boarding house. I want to take you to dinner then perhaps go to see _Alice in Wonderland_."

"Sounds like fun." In truth, I couldn't wait until then.

The rest of the evening flew by quickly as did the following day; more reading and not a lot of talk except for excitement about tomorrows trip to the history museum. As school ended I rushed home running instead of driving. Stefan drove the car home while Damon followed me. Briefly I saw a flash of red deep in the shadow of the woods. No, I definitely have not forgotten that nomad.

**Don't forget about the green button… it's the reviews that keep this story going and make me want to write more. Also, if anyone wants any of my other stories to keep going, please review them and let me know. **

**Next chapter: The date and all heck breaks lose!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris.

**I rushed things along a bit last chapter, but I was in a hurry to get to this. ****I'm changing history a bit to fit my story. Plus this whole chapter will be from Bella's POV. Edward gets the museum.**

For those of you who were commenting about this being Bella and Damon, there are quite a few parts in it that are just them. He's a little obsessed over her. I've got a total Damon/Bella fanfic in mind if anyone is interested let me know and I'll start it. It's sort of a prequel to this, much like my other stories.

**BPOV**

I went through my closet from top to bottom twice and still can't find anything appropriate for my date with Edward. Damon whistled, holding up a black leather mini dress by the straps with his thumbs.

"That would be more for a date with you, Damon, not Edward."

"Mmmmm… Does that mean you won't wear it? For me?" He tried his best innocent face, but I ignored him.

"You know I'm not that kind of girl, Damon." I told him.

"Oh, but dearest Isabella, I know you can be." He folded the dress over his arm and leaned against the door frame to watch me.

After a few minutes he pulled a pair of black skinny jeans out of my closet and held them up.

"These show off your assets very nicely and I think something blue for your top. It is by far your best color."

"Damon, how would you know about fashion? All you wear is black?" I asked, pulling out a royal blue sweater with a swooping neck that I hadn't worn in a while.

When I turned, Damon was only an inch away from me, "I know what I like. Stefan may see you as a possession to be protected until his final death, but I still see you as a healthy, beautiful and needful woman, my Isabella." He leaned forward, breathing softly on my neck as he whispered, "Never forget that."

I wanted to hit him, but his words had frozen me.

"Let me go, Damon," I said finally.

"Never," he looked deep in my eyes, bending to kiss me on the cheek. "If this Edward boy hurts you in any way, I promise that I will kill him, Isabella."

"He won't hurt me, Damon," I whispered.

He reached up and touched my cheek, closing his eyes and turning into a raven and flying out the window. While standing at the mirror, putting the final touches on my makeup I heard Stefan at the door.

"What am I to you, Stefan?" I asked him without turning around.

"Damon making you doubt again, I see." Having heard our conversation, I could see he was ready for my question. "You are my mother, my sister, and my daughter. You saved me when I was dying before you even knew me. You and Damon are the only family I have in this world and you, my dear, are the only connection I have with being human. Without your guidance I would have turned savage and been killed long ago. I want to be near you and protect you always."

"And love?"

"I do love you, Isabella. If you ever wished it I would become your lover, but I will never force that on you. You mean too much to me for me to do that."

After a long paused, I turned away from him. "Thank you, Stefan, for telling me. Please go."

He nodded and left. As he did, I sank in my chair, letting his words sink in. _What was I thinking? If I went on a date with Edward it would hurt both of the men that I loved, yet both are encouraging it. Was it Edward's smell that attracted me? That was part of it, that's certain. There was the way his half smile lit his face and those green eyes. Ah yes, those eyes. When he talks it us like he has read too many romance novels and knows just what to say and how to say it. He makes me feel human again. _

When the doorbell rang, Stefan answered the door and let Edward in, letting him know I'd be right down. I could no longer hear Damon anywhere in the house, but he was still close.

"Almost ready," I yelled, finishing my hair and slipping on my sandals.

As I came down the stairs, Edward met my eyes as I turned the corner. He looked amazing in his jeans and sweater. With a laugh I realized that we matched and said so. He laughed lightly at that. Edward offered me his arm.

"Shall we go, my lady?" Edward bowed slightly to me as I took his arm.

I laughed at him since he didn't know the irony of what he just said. We drove into Dallas for dinner at a fantastic Italian restaurant. The food was quite excellent. Stefan was quiet all through dinner, but spoke up once we had finished.

"You said you needed to talk to me, Bella. What would you like to talk about?" He asked curiosity plain on his face.

I looked around nervously, "Not here. This is something I'd like to share in private."

"As you wish," he looked over to me, with his chin on one elbow. We sat and talked quietly about his family for a while before he looked at his watch. "We should go, the movie starts soon."

I nodded, standing without taking his hand. We walked over to where the movie was, since it was only a few blocks away. On the way I felt someone watching me. Searching out with my emotions I found someone with extreme hatred, but I also found Stefan very close. Damon was nowhere to be found. The movie was wonderful, but I paid more attention to Edward's nearness. At some point in the movie, he put his hand out for me. At first I avoided his hand like he had the plague, but finally unable stand it anymore, I took his hand. When our hands met, I felt like I had been energized with electricity. As his body went rigid I knew that he felt it too.

_I have to tell him._

"Tell me what, Bella?" he asked, answering my thought.

Instantly I put my shields up. I hadn't been thinking about them at all since they usually worked no matter what, but with Edward touching me, I let him in unknowingly.

"After the movie, I promise." I whispered, dreading that moment, but knew I had to tell him if we were to go forward.

Once outside the theater, I was overwhelmed with emotions of hatred and anger. Most of the thoughts were to hunger, capture and destroy.

"No," I whispered, "Edward, I have to get you out of here. Now!"

"Bella, what's going on?" he asked me.

It was totally dark now. _I should have known better than to be out here after dark. What was I thinking? Every vampire in town will be attracted to me._

"Not now, Edward, I've got to get you out of here now before it's too late."

He pulled me back to a stop, "Bella, there's nothing out there. There's nothing to be afraid…. Wait, what is that?"

As he was talking I could hear the growls growing all around me. They were getting closer and closer as he spoke.

"That is what I wanted to tell you, but not this way." I said quietly, then added even quieter, "Not this way."

A flash of red and she was there, "Aro sends his regards, my lady. He wishes for you to rejoin him or suffer the consequences."

"Who are you?" Edward asked, not too nicely either.

"They call me Victoria. I scout the areas that my masters tell me to. That is how I found Isabella here and told them where to find her. I have been looking for her for over a hundred years now."

"No." I whispered, then louder, "I already told Aro no and I do not intend on going back. Too many people have been hurt already."

"He said you would not come quietly, but heed my words, princess, you will join him one way or another." She tapped her fingers together, "How about we get rid of your human friend here before we discuss this further. I hate having such an audience."

I growled low in my throat, standing before Edward, "You leave him alone!"

She laughed, "Protective of a mere human. Oh, my dear Isabella, you have changed. Out of my way!"

When she lunged at Edward, I caught her midair and tackled her to the ground. She barred her fangs at me, hissing and biting my arm before we landed hard. Spinning out of her reach, ignoring my arm, I stood protectively in front of Edward.

"Bella! You're bleeding!" He yelled from behind me.

I growled at the advancing vampires who were now hunting me for my smell. Twelves of them all jumped on me at once, biting into separate parts of me in bloodlust. I screamed and fell back, lost in the pain.

"Bella!!" Edward yelled, running forward, but I could hear Stefan finally arrive with Damon not too far behind.

"You idiots!! We need her alive!!" I heard Victoria somewhere beyond the others.

"Don't move," I heard Stefan tell Edward as I heard a snap and one of the vampires let go of me. Slowly Damon and Stefan made their way through the vampires, killing them as they were pulled from me; even Victoria pulled one off of me and killed it.

"Stupid newborns," she growled, but when she saw only Damon and Stefan standing over me, both looking deadly as could be, she ran with Damon at her heels.

I felt Stefan leaning next to me and Edward on the other side, but I couldn't move. I had lost too much blood.

"Stefan…" I looked up at him pleadingly.

Without biting it, he offered his arm to me. I took a gently bite and felt instantly better as his blood hit my tongue. As my eyes came into focus I realized how close Edward was to me and saw the shock on his face. He didn't run from me though, which was even more of a surprise. Stefan put his hand behind my head, pulling me so I could sit up against him while his body cradled mine; one arm wrapped around my waist while the other fed me. I could see the bite marks closing before my eyes and let out a sigh of relief as the last ones closed.

"I'm so sorry." I told them both. _This was all my fault. I should have known better… especially with Aro knowing where I am. How could I have been so stupid?!?_ I wanted to scream at myself but a soft voice brought me up short.

"Bella."

I looked up at Edward, his eyes full of wonder.

"Bella, are you going to be okay?" His voice was shaky, but I could feel only worry from him. There was no panic and no hate.

"She needs Damon's blood to heal properly." Stefan answered him.

"I'm here. She went north out of the city." Damon stepped out of the shadows behind Edward, "Here, let me have her." He said, taking me from Stefan and sitting, holding me in much the same position. "Bite, my love."

I wanted to hit Damon for his words, but I was still weak and needed him. I bit into him hard instead, growling into his arm as he hissed at the pain. "That's it, Isabella. Heal."

When I had had enough, I threw my head back and licked my lips, wiping the blood from my lips. It took a few minutes until my head cleared enough for me to stand.

"Bella," Edward only looked at me in wonder, his eyes never leaving me. "Is this what you wanted to tell me?"

I nodded, "Yes. I am so sorry for putting you through this, Edward. We should leave now before she comes back."

Damon and Stefan helped me stand, but I still leaned on Damon heavily for a few moments before I gained my balance. Damon put me in the back seat with Edward, while he and Stefan took the front. They drove back to the boarding house and went inside, leaving me a few minutes with Edward alone.

"You're not afraid of me?" I asked Edward, not really believing the emotions I received from him.

"Should I be? All I saw was the most beautiful woman in the world trying to protect me from being attacked by a bunch of bloodthirsty vampires. Sure, the blood part is a bit gross, but from what I've read there are now ways around it. I knew you were different from other people, Bella. Ever since I noticed I couldn't read your mind, I knew. But you knew about that part too? Did you do that to me?"

I was surprised at how calm he was about this, "You were able to do it before I ever touched you, Edward. I just made it so you were stronger. It's part of my power and why people want me so much. I'm sure by now you've noticed I don't exactly smell like a regular person either, but not like Damon or Stefan either."

"You smell like flowers almost, very sweet. I thought it was a perfume or a shampoo or something. It's intoxicating."

I nodded, "To a vampire, that smell is irresistible unless the vampire is very old. Newborns often attack before they realize what they smell. Usually I could hold off many vampires, but they took me by surprise before I could act. I was a fool to come into town and I'm sorry to put you through this, Edward."

"How old are you?" he asked quietly.

"Seventeen," I answered automatically.

"How long have you been seventeen?" he responded.

_It's time… _I thought, taking an unnecessary breath before beginning.

"I was born in Italy in 385. My father was Theodosius and my mother Aelia Pulcheria. When I was born my parents hid me away from the world, thinking something was evil in me when things started happening around me. Monsters would attack at night and try to take me even as an infant. The palace guards were sent to protect me even in broad daylight. As I grew older I began to understand the emotions of others around me and in some causes influence how they felt. In many cases that aided in lessening the creature attacks. When I turned seventeen, I snuck out of the palace and into a deserted street. That's where I met a man who was no ally to the Empire. He ran me through with a sword and left me for dead, claiming my likeness with the Emperor made me part of the Empire. I never found out who it was that turned me or why, nor do I know if he knew my true identity."

Edward nodded quietly to let me know he was still listening.

"Years later I found out that man had been executed my by father for treason."

"So that's why you laughed when I called you my lady. That is your title, is it not, princess."

"My family's rule has been over for centuries, Edward. I don't think I qualify anymore."

He laughed, "You're kidding right? Have you seen how everyone acts around you? It's almost as if they can't function without your leadership. You may not be a princess of Italy anymore, but you most certainly are the queen of the school."

I looked at him carefully, taking in his emotions, "You're taking this well, Edward. I think you may be in shock."

"Not exactly shock, Bella, or should I call you Isabella?"

"I think we should stick to Bella. I wouldn't be comfortable with Caroline or Matt calling me Isabella."

He laughed again, "How about when we're alone?" He reached up to touch my face, but I pulled back. "Why do you do that?"

I bit my lip and decided truth would be best, "When we're alone I think I'd like for you to call me Isabella. As for this," I held up my hand, "When I touch people it's like opening a window to them. I feel everything they feel and something things happen to them. Powerful and magical things."

He offered his hand, "I'm willing to take that chance if it means I could touch you. Are you willing to let me?"

When I reached out and took his hand tentatively I shivered at the shock that coursed through my body. I could read Edward as clear is if he had opened his mind to me. There was no anger, no confusion and no doubt, only wonder, curiosity and love. I turned my head, not daring to believe it, but it was there. I opened my shields, so Damon and Stefan wouldn't hear my question.

_Do you love me, Edward?_

"With all that I am, Isabella," he responded to my thought automatically.

_Even though I am… this?_

He laughed lightly, "I guess I have a thing for older women."

That sent me into a fit of laughter. He laughed with me until he caught a stray thought.

"Your secret is safe with me, Isabella. If you like I will swear it on my blood."

I closed my mind off to him, regretting that thought instantly, knowing he wouldn't tell anyone. The thought of him revealing my secret did scare me, but tomorrow it wouldn't matter either way.

"I insist," he touched my chin, raising my eyes to meet his. "Please, Isabella, let me do this."

My only response was to open my mouth slightly as Edward's fingers grazed my lips. My fangs extended slowly as his fingers touched them, carefully slicing the side of his finger open. Only one drop of blood touched my lips, but it was enough. My face transformed and I pulled back from him.

"No more. Please." I pulled back from him as far as the car would allow.

"What did I do?" he asked me.

"I haven't had human blood since Stefan and Damon were turned. I don't think I could hold back if I had more than just a drop. I'm sorry, Edward."

"Don't be sorry, Isabella." He kissed my hand. "I better go. We have a long day tomorrow. One last thing… how do you go out in the daylight?"

I reached up to touch my necklace, gasping when it wasn't there. In panic, I searched all around me.

"My necklace, where is it?" I asked him in panic. Damon appeared at the door, "Damon, please go search the attack area for my necklace. And hurry."

He only nodded, disappearing into the night.

"Your necklace is what makes you walk in the daylight? What will happen without it?" he asked me curiously.

"You really don't want to know, Edward. Go home. We'll take care of this. "

I got out of his car and stood on the porch waiting for Damon with Stefan right next to me, hand in mine. Edward stayed for a few more minutes watching us and then drove away. I knew he didn't want to leave, but this was something I wasn't ready to share with him. When Damon appeared, he was empty handed.

"It wasn't there, Bella." He took off his ring, placing it on my hand, "Take this for tomorrow. Then we'll hunt her down and take it back." He closed my fingers over the ring.

**Please remember the green button… updates may slow down a little after this one.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**None of these characters are mine... they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris. **

**Be sure to look at the prequels posted in my profile… not sure if I will continue them, let me know what ya'll think. I've also opened up discussion forum for all of my stories. You can find the link on my profile too. Quick note: This museum that I'm writing does not exist; I'm mixing up several I've been to.**

**EPOV**

There is no escaping one fact: Bella is a vampire. I still can't believe what I heard and saw tonight. When I put my hands behind my bed, I kept going over tonight in my mind. _I really hope she's okay_, I thought. In the short time that I've known her, Bella had become the center of my life and I was not ready to lose her. I heard a soft tapping at the door.

"Come in."

Alice bounced in, plopping down on the end of the bed.

"So, how did the date go? I want to hear all about it!"

_I knew I should have pretended to sleep._

"It was the most fantastic date I've ever been on. Bella is amazingly wonderful. There is so much to her; so many complicated things you would never imagine.

"You are so stuck on her," she laughed at me.

I just laughed, "I don't think you're too far behind, Alice. You keep throwing us together."

"Why shouldn't I? She's gorgeous, intelligent, artistic and sweet as can be. I want the best for my little bro and I have a feeling she's it."

"You have no idea, Alice. She's perfect in every way. She has mysterious things about her, but they enhance her instead of tear her down. She is Bella." I looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, "Have you had any more visions?"

She turned her face down and blushed, but I heard the answer in her head.

"I thought not."

Her head popped up, glaring at me. She was thinking how to break me in half for guessing about her visions.

"Now Alice, if you did that you wouldn't have a baby brother anymore."

She sat back, gaping at me, "How?"

"The same way you have such strong visions now. Can you remember when it started for you?"

She tapped her chin thoughtfully then gasped, "When I touched Bella. Edward, do you know what this means?!?"

"Shhh, Alice, calm down. You can't tell anyone, think of what would happen to her if you did. Or what would happen to you if you told them about your visions."

"Or your telepathy? I don't feel like being a science project. And poor Bella… they'd probably do a lot worse to her."

"I'd rather not think about that. Now scoot, sis, I need to get some sleep."

"Good night Edward," she stood, heading to the door.

"Alice?"

"Hmm?" she turned back to me.

"Don't tell the others either."

"You bet bro."

** ** ** **

I woke to the smell of wildflowers and something much sweeter. The sun beat brightly down on me as I opened my eyes. The meadow was so familiar. The trees that lined the edges of the meadow looked so familiar. Then it hit me; I was in the meadow from the painting. I could hear the wind rustling in the trees. As the wind picked up, I saw a form hidden in the tall grass next to me. She was still as death and curled up on her side.

"Isabella," I breathed.

She rolled over and looked up at me with obsidian eyes. When I reached for her she opened her mouth slightly, revealing her fangs. She sat up slightly then struck.

I awoke suddenly covered in sweat. At breakfast, Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett had already left, so I ate quickly and sat waiting for Alice. She showed up just before we had to leave, Carlisle just behind her.

"Sorry I'm late; I had a really rough night."

I looked at her sharply, but she ignored me, making some quick toast and tossing her bag over her shoulder.

"Good morning kids. I hope you both enjoy your field trip. I've heard the museum is huge and there are quite a few special exhibits there this month."

"Come on, Edward, we better get going. I'm sure Bella's waiting." She ducked when I made a grab for her, and then skipped out the door laughing.

Carlisle caught me by the shoulder and looked at me seriously, "You be careful, son."

I only nodded and hurried after Alice. Once we got to school we headed to the lunchroom to check in with the teachers leading the trip. Mr. Fletcher, our history teacher, stood by the front doors with his clipboard checking off names as we came by. After checking in, I turned and saw Stefan waving me over. Alice was already in deep conversation with Bella. Both of them got quiet the moment I got closer.

_Bella looks so strange without that necklace of hers. I'm glad she's coming on this trip with is, she's great at history._ Alice thought.

Silence from Bella. She turned around in her seat and looked me over with a happy little smirk.

"What?" I smiled, asking her.

"Oh nothing. Just that color blue really brings out the sparkle in your eyes."

"Are you saying that I dazzle you?"

She blushed lightly, "Just a little. Time to go."

The teacher loaded everyone on the busses and off we went. On the ride there Bella and I talked about the weather mostly since a storm was blowing in. For some reason Bella kept looking around her or directly at Stefan. Then it hit me that Damon could not be in the sunlight if something could happen and that vampire could. I took her hand and looked directly at her.

"Is everything okay, Isabella?" I asked her quietly.

"No." Her answer was barely audible.

As we stepped off the bus, Bella took my hand gently and hissed slightly. The shock in her touch had grown stronger since that first touch. In that moment minds all around me opened in a haze of noise. After a moment, she continued walking as if nothing happened.

"Stay close to me, Edward, there may be trouble."

Though she said it quietly, her tone was not one to be refused. The look in her eyes startled me; it was something I had never seen on her before even when she was in battle. I truly felt like the lamb to her lioness when she looked that way.

Once inside, the minds became less of a jumble and I could hear mostly excited people at all types of exhibits. Alice was excited to see the dinosaurs and Jessica was singing a song in her head. There was a quiet spot somewhere in the museum though. I could not place it. Stefan bent to whisper to Bella and she simply nodded, loosening her grip slightly on my hand. That's the moment Alice stilled like a statue. I saw it in a flash; there was Victoria attacking Bella in the daylight and Stefan on her back, tearing at her. She saw herself gasping and screaming my name.

"Alice," I turned to her, holding her by the shoulders.

"Oh no. Edward, what's happening to me?" she looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"I hope this time you are wrong, Alice. I really do." I whispered quietly to her, sure Bella and Stefan could hear me.

"The other one was real? It happened?" She barely got the words out.

"It did."

She turned around to stare at Bella and Stefan, "Oh my god."

Stefan was by her side in a second, "We're still us, Alice. I promise we won't hurt you. And we will protect the both of you."

Alice's eyes would not leave Bella's for a second, "Please be careful, Bella."

Bella only nodded, tightening her hand on mine slightly.

"Welcome to the Dallas Museum of Science and History," the teacher began as she handed out our badges. "With these badges you may go anywhere in the museum complex you wish. The rules are simple:

Be sure to eat your lunch in the cafeteria

Stay within the museum complex

Meet back here at five o'clock so we can head back

Now ya'll have fun and go enjoy the museum."

**Authors note: Not in a million years do I think a high school would let them roam free like this in a big town, but there are tracers in the badges. The kids don't know this. Also, if I didn't do it this way it wouldn't fit the story :p**

The museum itself was huge and consisted of several different buildings inside a gated complex. Our group contained Bella, Alice, Bonnie, Stefan and I and none of really could decide where to start. Looking over the map we finally decided to just start on the left side of the map and work our way right. As we entered the first building on the far end Alice started jumping up and down when she saw the tyrannosaurs rex skeleton that was facing the main doors. It had its head down and its entire body spanned the room.

"Okay you guys, who wants to play tour guide?" Alice was stretching, trying to get nose to nose with the huge beast.

Bonnie and Stefan pushed Bella forward with a laugh. With a smile, Bella raised her arm grandly, fully playing tour guide as if she has been doing it all her life. As we walked along she explained about each dinosaur and what they did. Alice had a ton of questions for her, but I began to suspect they were to try and trip Bella up than her really wanting to know them. The next building was space and gemstones mainly, but it had a few vehicles as well. The planetarium was open so we all went inside and took seats all over the room. In the dark Bella seemed so different. She curled up by my side while watching the stars overhead.

_The stars are the closest thing to something constant in my life. I miss the days on the ocean when the stars reflected on the water's surface and it looked like you were sailing on a sea of stars._

Shocked that I could hear her, Bella remained still in my arms, keeping contact slightly with my chest.

_Don't be surprised, Edward. I've had centuries of practice projecting my thought. Most of my kind has to learn to block telepaths, but I had to learn to project since my mind natural blocks everyone._

"Bella," my voice was only a slight whisper.

_I can hear you as you can now hear me. Just be careful, Stefan can hear you too._

We sat in silence as I listened to those around me. I could faintly make out Stefan's thoughts, but still could not understand what I was hearing. He seemed to be scanning the area around him while listening to the presentation. Bonnie and Alice were both singing 'twinkle twinkle little star'. That thought alone made me want to laugh. My thoughts soon drifted to the amazingly sweet and floral smell of Bella's hair. I had never smelled anything like it before. As she relaxed the smell seemed to get stronger. I gently brushed my fingertips through her hair, pulling back part of it so it was behind her ear. As I looked around the room I noticed only Stefan was watching is, but he turned away with a smile when our eyes met.

_Isabella, is this okay with Stefan?_ My arm tightened on her shoulder a little to explain what I meant.

Just then Stefan turned back to me and quirked his eyebrow then threw his head back in a silent laugh.

_Does that answer your question, Edward? Stefan has always been my best friend and protector, but it was never meant to be more._

_And Damon?_

Her eyes fell from mine as she answered, _Damon is complicated. He will not and cannot fight me on any choices I make regarding my heart. To him I am his Queen of Darkness. He does approve of you though and has praised you a few times since you arrived in town. He tends to watch me very closely._

I wasn't exactly sure what Damon would consider praise or even if I wanted to know. After what seemed like a very short time the show ended with a wonderful recording of the Planets by Holst. As we headed towards the next building, Alice and Bonnie stayed behind to go back to the dinosaur exhibit to explore more. As soon as we ended the next building Stefan wandered away from us wordlessly as Bella began whirling in the middle of the room. The walls inside made the whole place look like an Egyptian tomb with the hieroglyphics all over the walls.

"Still feel like playing tour guide?" I asked her.

She laughed at me, "Not really. I love to teach, but it's just us now. I'd rather hear your opinions on the pharaohs."

Walking though the exhibits I told her everything I knew about each pharaoh. When we came to one I never heard of she told me all about him. It was amazing how much she knew about the past. The next room is where Bella got quiet. The sandy walls turned to columns and arches. I saw Stefan standing in front of a glass display, but he walked away when we came in.

"Are you alright, Bella?"

She only needed, taking me over to the display Stefan was standing at. It was a statue of a woman in an extremely old dress wearing older jewelry. She looked exquisite. As I looked over the details of the dress I was amazed at the age and how well it had held up over the ages. Bella refused to look at it. That's when I noticed the tag and jerked back.

Italian Royal Dress dated 350 AD. Donated by Isabeau Pulcheria 1935.

"What? You didn't believe me?"

Her face was sad and withdrawn as if she was waiting for my rejection. I took her by the shoulders and gently lifted her face so her eyes met mine.

"I was not expecting to see something of yours here, Bella. I'd love to see you in it one day. Maybe if I had a reproduction made?"

She blushed slightly, "I have one similar at home, but it's much newer."

"Bella, there's something I want to try."

That's when I gently put my hands on her cheeks and pulled her closer to me. The colors around her eyes darkened as I watched her closer and her eyes began to turn red. She held still for me though, which surprised me. My lips brushed against hers slight for only a moment. It was Bella's reaction I was unprepared for. I was ready for her to attack me, but not this. Almost knocking me down, Bella pulled me to her tighter, grabbing my hair and kissed me more roughly. When it began to hurt, she let go of my hair and pulled back with a deep growl. When I opened my eyes I saw that her eyes had turned blood red and her face was dark and feral.

"Isabella?' I breathed, holding still as possible.

From behind me I head and even lower growl that was getting louder as it was getting closer. The next thing I heard was a woman's laughter.

"Oh this is rich! Wonderful!" I heard Victoria's voice near the exit of the building. "We're all here together now! One big happy mess up family!"

When I turned around, Stefan was standing right in front of me next to Bella who had appeared out of thin air. Victoria was cleaning on the door frame as a giant tiger and a huge wolf were slowly pawing their way towards us.

_**Please don't forget the green button! The more I hear from ya'll the more I'll write :D I'm already working on the next chapter. Please let me know if you want me to continue the Damon/Bella prequel and the Eric/Godric/Bella prequel.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**As usual, none of these characters are mine; they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris.**

**This chapter has a cameo of Ian MacPhie from Kerrelyn Sparks's Love at Stake series. More vamps may show up from that series, but I doubt it. Ian is a (if I remember correctly) 500 year old vampire stuck in the body of a 15 old. The vamps from that series can teleport. Obviously if you know the Love at Stake series this is before **_**All I Want For Christmas Is A Vampire. **_

**BPOV**

Why did she have to bring them into this? It didn't have to come to a fight. After all these years you'd think that Aro would give up on me and put constantly put me through this.

"Why are you doing this, Victoria?" I asked her coldly.

"I have been ordered to convince you to join the Volturri and I plan on using every means at my disposal," she growled low, her eyes watching us carefully.

"Quinn, Alcide, you don't have to do this. I don't want to hurt you."

_I'm so sorry babe, but if I don't they'll kill my mother. _Quinn was thinking.

_I have to, Bells, its business, nothing personal. _Alcide answered my silent question.

That comment had me growling louder, placing myself in front of Edward.

"I told Aro no!" I growled hatefully.

"You have no choice, Isebeau. He wants you alive and he won't stop until he gets you."

That's when Alcide and Quinn jumped at us, knocking me and Stefan down. Victoria sped in and grabbed Edward before I could stop her.

"Edward!" I screamed, throwing Quinn into a column, breaking it in half and chasing Victoria with Stefan just behind me.

_Edward, are you okay? _I sent to him.

_I can't get free of her, I_

The thought was cut off. We chased her down for hundreds of mines before her trail disappeared over the water just as it was getting dark. On the water's edge I looked down and saw my necklace, bobbing in the waves. I reached down, putting it back around my neck.

"Where will she take him?" Stefan asked me after scouting the area.

"Only one place she can go. Italy."

We raced back to the museum and got there just as the busses were loading. I told the teacher that Edward had Damon come and get him, he wasn't feeling too well. The last thing I wanted was a search party going out and looking for Edward when the reveal was still on for tonight. I was dreading what was to come, but I really did not have a choice. I know Aro would wait for me to get there and it was my duty to protect the bar tonight. I'd have to miss the football game, but I'm sure Stefan would be right by my side. As soon as we got home, I changed into some torn blue jeans and a black shirt with heels. I couldn't work tonight, but I wanted to look as nonthreatening as possible. Stefan had also changed into a tan dress shirt and slacks. He always did look good in that combination. After giving Damon back his ring, we all headed to Merlotte's.

"Ready for the big night, Bella?" Sam asked as we came in, taking one of the tables near the door.

"Not really, but we have to."

One of my closest friends, Ian MacPhie, was standing by the bar taking an absent drink from a bottle when he looked up and nodded, then went back to his bottle. He was in his usual kilt and sweater with his claymore across his back. The way he was standing he looked more like a statue than someone who was real. When the door opened, Jacob came in with Taylor, the two were laughing and soaking wet from the rain outside. I nearly gagged at the smell of wet dog.

Jacob turned to me and laughed, "You ready Bells? This should be fun."

I growled, "I'll do what I need to, Jake." I made a gagging noise, "You really reek."

He just laughed and leaned against the other end of the bar from Ian. The two simply glared at each other. Sookie was waiting tables as usual with Bill sitting at his usual booth watching her like a hawk. Tonight was Friday night and was guaranteed to be packed. A few people asked why I wasn't working tonight and told them it was my day off. We both sat with untouched burgers in front of us, every now and then I'd bite a fry to try and calm myself. Most of the looks I got were double takes since I was dressed much older than I should have been and the way I carried myself I looked it.

"Hey Bella. I thought you were off tonight." Alice turned from where she was sitting next to Jasper. She stood up and walked over to our table, looking over for a moment at the gentleman in the kilt. "Have you seen Edward?" She looked over to Damon, "the school said he went with you."

Damon answered, "He went on a short trip, but he'll be back soon."

Alice rolled her eyes and turned to Bella, "Bella? You know I saw what happened. Where is he now?"

I lowered my voice to a barely a whisper, "We'll get him back, Alice. I promise you."

"This won't end well, Bella. You know what's going to have to happen, don't you."

I looked around, knowing the other vampires in the room were listening to this whole conversation, "I'm going to try everything I can to avoid that. I don't think I can do that."

Alice squeezed my shoulder and went back to her table. On the TV behind the bar a news report interrupted the show. Sam turned, turning up the television up then turned back to lean on the bar, one eye on Ian, the other on our table.

"We now bring you a special report. Tonight the world will change as it learns that thing around us aren't always what they seem. Tonight the world will learn of the existence of vampires."

The scene went back to the news anchor in one chair and Pam sitting in the other chair, looking very much like holly house wife. Her suit was a pale pink and looked cute as a button. Her fangs were down and she grinned playfully at the camera.

"This is Pam, who is one of many vampires in the area. Tell me, Pam, why have you decided now was the time to 'come out of the coffin'."

"It's easy. With the invention of new synthetic blood, our race is no longer a threat to humans or animals. Most of us cannot go out into the light and for centuries we have lives side by side with you. There is no longer any need for us to be in the shadows."

"That is true."

Pam looked at the camera, "Now, as agreed, ladies and gentlemen."

With a sigh, Stefan, Damon and I stood and walked over to under the television and presented ourselves, red faced and fanged to everyone in the room. Bill only retracted his fangs from his seat as did Ian from behind the bar.

"Right now all over the globe there are vampires in bars, stores and anywhere public that this is broadcasted are revealing themselves. I only pray the reaction to this is as calm as your reaction to me."

The bar was silent as our faces changed back to normal. Sookie came around the bar and hugged me quietly, then stood next to me. Everyone just stared.

Jacob was the one who broke up the quiet, "This is so cool, Bells! You're a vampire, how awesome!" He took me in a huge wolf hug that nearly knocked me down.

Several people laughed at his enthusiasm as Damon and Stefan took back their seats.

"Sam?" I turned after Jacob let me go and asked him.

"Get to work Bella. No need to change, we've got a busy night." He told me.

Putting on an apron and washing my hands I got to work taking orders. Most people hesitated when they ordered, but they did order. As orders were handed out, people began to stare and less and less. As I read the thoughts around the room, may people thought it was a joke, even with the proof right in front of them. A few people were wondering how old I was, but stopped before they asked because of the old saying 'it's not polite to ask a woman her age'. Most people were in shock, but still saw me as good 'ol Bella. The captain of the cheerleading squad and the number one pick for prom queen. I loved small towns; the people were so not judgmental most of the time. As things wound down, Damon and Stefan helped with the cleanup. Ian walked up to me and bowed.

"I'm glad things went so well here, lass. Looks like I was not needed after all," his accent reminded me some of the old places I loved to visit. "Be sure to keep in touch; Angus and Roman have been asking after ya." In a lower voice he added, "If you need any help, donna hesitate to call us," he handed her a business card.

"Please don't tell them where I am, Ian. You can tell them I'm okay, but not where. I promise to visit soon though. Thank you for coming down here to guard the bar."

"Not a problem. As I said, if you need anything," he looked at me pointedly, knowing that something was indeed wrong.

He turned and vanished right before my eyes. With a sign I finished up cleaning the chairs before heading over to talk to Sam.

"Sam, I'll be gone for a while. I need to go to Italy. Would you please take care of the mail while I'm gone? If everything goes well I'll find a way to make it up to you."

"Sure thing, Bells. Now you be careful and come back in one piece."

"I'll try my best, Sam."

The next morning the three of us boarded a private plane to Italy.

**EPOV**

It was dark and cold. There were thoughts all around me, but nothing I could clearly understand. There were too many of them.

"Hello?" I called around me, unable to see anything.

"Bring him," a rough voice said as someone grabbed me by the arms and pulled me through a door and into a brightly lit room.

The walls were marble and very old. All around me were people in cloaks with fast moving minds that I could not understand yet. As we walked I concentrated on the person in front of me, trying to hear clearly what they were thinking. I caught the name Aro and something about a trap. I wasn't really paying attention to where we were going except for when it got so cold my teeth were chattering to the sudden blasts of heat and sunlight. We stopped in front of a pair of delicately decorated bronze doors. I was handed off to a small girl in a black cloak with her blond hair pulled back. Her eyes were deep red. She opened the door, pushing me in and followed behind me.

The room was huge and circular with columns and benches against the walls. On one side of the room there were steps leading up to three huge thrones. The first one has a very bored looking black hair vampire, leaning his head on his hand. The last was someone that looked similar to Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter. In the middle though was a man with black hair that was slicked back, but he wore a black modern suit.

"Jane! Thank you for bring me Edward. What an unusual human this is. How on earth did you do it, my boy? You succeeded where I have been trying for centuries. You gained my dear Isabella's loyalty."

That's when he took my hand and my whole body jolted as memories began to replay in my head from birth to the museum. Aro stood absolutely still while Jane held me in place.

"Ah yes. Love." He spit out the word like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "And a surprise, I see. What a gifted human we have here. I will admit that it is nice to finally know where my dear Isabella came from. That little tidbit she has been withholding from me since we met. Her powers are too powerful and too unique to be wasted on pretending to be human; especially when it really does not matter anymore. The vampires are out and now the world knows of our existence. You, my boy will be my bait for young Isabella. Now that I have seen your memories I am sure she will come." He motion with his hands at the steps below the middle chair. "Sit. We shall wait for your love to come find you. I'm sure it will be soon."

**Sorry that this chapter was so short, but I wanted to get this out before I lost it again. Again, please don't forget the green button!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**As usual, none of these characters are mine; they belong to Stephenie Meyer, L. J. Smith and Charlaine Harris.**

Ya'll will probably have to reread the last chapter… I fixed some errors and redid some scenes from the bar. I've been away from this story too long… I hope I don't screw it up too much. I finally know where it's going now and should be updating it more.

**EPOV**

I didn't know how Bella was going to get to me here, but I knew between her, Stefan and Damon they had to do it. There had to be at least twenty vampires guarding the doors inside, not counting all the people outside. I didn't even know where here was. Would she even know where I was? Listening to the others I now knew the gentlemen, if you'd call him that, was named Aro. He seemed to be the leader of this group of vampires. Listening to them I couldn't tell where on earth I was since everyone sounded like they came from some ancient world or were so thickly accented it was hard to understand them. Every time a vampire noticed me I wanted to flinch at the hungry look in their eyes at first, but after a bit I got used to it.

During the day they were different though since I was only guarded by humans and put in a locked room where I was told to sleep. Of course I couldn't sleep. After banging on the door until my hands were bruised beyond belief I just slid down the door and waited.

**BPOV**

_Can't this blasted plane move any faster? I'm crawling out of my skin here! _I couldn't help but want to get there quickly. I could fly there quicker than this, but not with Damon and Stefan. I had a feeling that Edward was alive; I'm not sure how I knew, but I knew. I just wished that Aro would give up on me once and for all. I'm getting too old for this. I know, bad joke, but I had to do something, I'm crawling out of my skin here.

"Bella, calm down," Stefan squeezed my hand on one side while Damon was flirting with the stewardess on the other side of me.

I just growled at them both, rolling my eyes and kept tapping my foot. This was getting aggravating. When the plane finally landed it took everything I had not to just race off. At the airport we went straight out the doors and started running towards Volterra. It wouldn't be a Sunday stroll, but we'd get there faster than driving. We flew through the ancient gateway of Volterra just as it was getting dark. I knew they'd be waiting for us, they always do.

**No POV**

Bella, Damon and Stefan sped through town at vampire speed. Edward's scent was strong, but somehow it was on everything. Frustrated, Bella stopped in front of a huge and modern looking building as full dark descended.

"This running around is pointless, we won't find him this way." Bella growled, irritated.

"Then what do you suggest? You said he's alive. Can't you pick up his signal somehow?" Damon remarked.

"I've tried. He must be asleep or knocked out since I cannot sense him."

"What is this place?" Stefan pointed to the building that loomed over them.

"This is the main building where the Volturi are. Since Aro seemed hit to take his fight to us the only way to respond was to bring it back to him."

"Well put, my lady," boomed a strange new voice. "Isabella, my dear, we have been expecting you."

"Give me Edward, Felix. I didn't think Aro would sink this low to capture me. I just want the human and to leave in peace. "

Felix turned his head to the side, "He just wishes to talk to you, Bella, nothing more."

"Then why are we surrounded by your dogs?" Bella bit back at him.

From the darkness several vampires growled lowly.

"I cannot let you leave this place."

"You have no choice," Bella hissed, her hand going to the sword that was strapped to her back.

"Very well then," Felix added sadly, drawing his sword and nodding to the other vampires around him.

The Volturi guard attacked all at once. Stefan and Damon vanished in their fights as Bella's sword clanged with Felix's. A sharp pain nearly put her on her knees as she felt Damon's wound. She dodged a lung and the two swords came together again in a shower of sparks. She dropped her sword when she felt Stefan's wound across her chest, but rolled for the sword just in time to stop another blow from Felix.

"Having trouble concentrating, my lady?" Felix laughed.

"What have you done with them?" Bella demanded. The pain of their wounds was almost too much for her. She stopped only for an instant, trying to close her bond to them.

"They will be held and tortured until you meet with Aro. Perhaps you need just a bit more persuasion."

It was then that Bella felt the worst pain of her life. In her mind she could feel Edward screaming. When Felix knocked her down everything went black, but not before she heard Felix whisper, "I'm sorry."

**Alice**

Alice was sitting at the lunch table waiting for news about Bella, Edward and Stefan when the vision hit her. She could barely tell who the people were in her vision, so she concentrated harder on it. Someone was dragged away. She saw herself there with the hazy figure that could only be Bella. She recognized the outfit from what Bella was wearing last night at the bar. Slowly her face came into focus; she looked as she did last night in the bar with her face red and her fangs out. Alice shook herself, trying not to let it scare her. Suddenly Alice saw herself fall prey to Bella and everything changed.

Rosalie looked up, seeing Alice freeze, "Hey Alice! Yoo hoo! Anyone home?"

After blinking several times, Alice snapped out of it, "Yea, I'm fine." She turned to Emmett and Jasper, "Look guys, I gotta go. Tell Carlisle I think I've found Edward."

Jasper stood protectively over her, "I'm coming with you."

That was the first time she felt the calmness flow over her from outside her body.

"Jasper?" Alice looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"Cut that out! Fine, let's get out of here. We don't have a lot of time," she grabbed his hand and headed to their car. She took Edward's car in hopes that he would show up at school. As soon as they got to the airport she booked the first flight to Italy. Once they got there, they rented a car and drove around a bit to get their bearing, while Alice used her memories in the visions to determine which way to go. Once during the trip Jasper had to grab the wheel when another vision hit her. That's when they pulled over for Jasper to drive.

"What next?" Jasper asked as they entered the city of Volterra.

"Things are going to get very complicated, Jasper. Please remember to trust Bella and Stefan. Things are going to happen tonight, but if it all goes the way I've seen we'll get out of this..." she hesitated, "in one piece."

"What are you not telling me?" he watched Alice carefully.

"I can't tell you, Jasper, it may change it."

Alice pulled off the road in front of a large, old looking building and looked up at it, "Get ready, they're coming."

**Sorry this chapter is so short, but with what is coming I wanted all that in the same chapter :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**As usual, none of these characters are mine; they belong to Stephenie Meyer and L. J. Smith.**

**The Changing**

When Edward woke the room was so dark he could not see a thing. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness he spotted a window high above where he was laying. He knew Aro would come and get him soon. A scraping sound caught his attention and he turned to the sudden noise. He couldn't tell who it was in the corner, but whoever it was held very still and was chained back from the look of it. Their tiny body was covered in blood, but he could see them breathing slowly. The persons head was down so he could not see who they were.

_Edward! _He heard Bella's sweet voice in his head. His head snapped up as if responding to her automatically. _I'm really sorry, Edward._ She sounded so weak.

"Isabella," Edward spoke aloud, hoping she would hear him in his mind as well.

He stepped closer to the person in the shadows, but whirled around when the cell door unlocked. Only for a second the light from the door illuminated the form on the wall. He could tell it was a woman, but his mind felt blocked somehow. He couldn't clear his head to figure out who it was.

"Get in there!" the guard threw someone into him and slammed the door, locking it.

Whoever it was screamed before pushing back from him and standing near the wall away from the bloody body hanging there.

"Don't you dare touch me!" she yelled. That's when it hit him.

"Alice?"

"Oh thank God it's you! I've been so worried, Edward. Where are Bella, Damon and Stefan? I didn't see them coming in. Jasper's with me. I think they put him in the next cell.

A low growl made them both turn to the figure on the wall. Alice gasped and covered her mouth. _It's her!_ Her thoughts screamed then pictures of her last few visions flooded her mind. Edward stiffened as he read her mind and recapped the visions.

"Are you sure about this, Alice?" Edward asked her.

"It's the only way we'll be safe, Edward and I'll be able to see vampires."

"Vampires?" Edward tried to fake that he didn't know about them.

"Oh yea, you didn't see the news report. Vampires are very real, but I can't see them in my visions… Wait, you knew about vampires already didn't you? You know about Bella, Damon and Stefan already. Edward, do you really love Bella?" Alice added quietly.

"With everything that I am. I can't imagine living without her." Edward whispered.

The growling in the shadows only got louder, followed by the smell of burning of burning flesh and a shrill scream. Alice ran into the shadows to stand by the struggling figure.

"It's Bella for sure, Edward. She's broken the leather bands against her wrists. The silver is burning her!"

Alice tried to look Bella in the eyes, but they were glowing bright red with hunger. Almost every spot of her visible skin was covered in slices or bleeding. Bella snapped at Alice's hand when she tried to get closer.

"I can't get through to her; she's gone mad with hunger!" Alice gasped as she pulled back her hand.

Edward stood weakly, "Let me," he stepped closer to Bella. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized who he was. Bella held very still as Edward moved the leather bands back under the silver cuffs. She watched him closely with her teeth barred, but she did not strike. Only for a moment could he read how much she was restraining herself so she would not hurt him.

_There is only one way out of this, my love and you know it_, Edward told her silently, hoping she could still read him.

Bella growled at him as he got closer and snipped at him fiercely. Her eyes were totally focused on him, but her eyes were pleading, not angry or hungry. She knew that if she didn't do this Aro would continue to hurt the ones she cared about and she'd never be free to love. Bella's body tightened as she felt the searing pain of her children getting burned. She did not have the energy to block them out anymore. She watched Edward fearfully; she didn't want to do this. _There has to be another way. _She had lost way too much blood to fight anymore. She loved Damon and Stefan both, but this was why she had stayed hidden all these years. She did not want them used against her; and now there's Edward. She had never felt a bond so strong in her life. _I can't do this… there must be another way._

"Do you want out of here or not?" Edward yelled at Bella, snapping her back to her senses. He'd slap her, but there was already too much blood and he couldn't bear to hurt her.

"Edward," Bella pleaded, her slightly pink tears falling from her cheeks.

"Edward," Alice took him by the shoulder. "Let me go first. She'll need her energy it heal you."

Edward backed away from Bella's body, but Bella bend to try to stay closer to her. She hissed, her mind snapping from hunger once more.

"Are you sure you want this, Alice?"

"If she doesn't do it, the others will to keep me. I refuse to go that way. She's my sister and I love her." Alice stepped closer as Bella's face softened. "It's okay Bella, you know what you're doing."

Alice stepped closer to Bella then pulled a chair over and stood on it when she couldn't get close enough. For a moment the two locked eyes, "I love you Bella and I trust you." Alice turned her wrist and put it near Bella's mouth. Her tears falling more freely now, Bella licked the offered wrist then bit into it gently causing Alice to gasp and roll back. Edward ran to hold her up, barely catching her. After a few moments they both heard the snapping of metal as the silver cuffs came free from the wall and another crunching sound as the flew across the room. Her eyes snapped open; they were still burning bright red in hunger. Edward could now see her more clearly as Bella lowered herself to the ground and took Alice more carefully in her arms bridal style. Both Bella and Edward stepped out of the shadows, their eyes locked on one another. Edward watched the wounds on Bella's arms close before her eyes.

"It's okay Bella, I'm ready," Alice told her weakly.

Those words woke Bella from her feeding trance. She let go of Alice in panic as she realized what she had done.

"No," Bella breathed, looking down at the bite mark on Alice's wrist in disgust.

"It's too late, Isabella," Edward whispered, keeping eye contact, "If you don't do it now you would have killed her. She knew it would happen, my love, one way or another. We're ready."

Bella jerked back as if he had slapped her. _You said we're ready… There really is no way out of this is there?_

"No, beloved, there is not. Alice searched every future she could… all of them ended the same," Edward answered her thought. "Do it now, we're losing her."

"Alice, forgive me," she murmured before locking eyes with Edward.

She bit again into Alice's wrist, trying to use the same holes. It didn't take long before Alice began to fade. Still hesitant, Bella bit into her wrist and stopped. Edward took her wrist and put it to Alice's mouth. As the blood flowed into Alice, Bella began to feel more of what Alice did. There was love for her family, devotion to those she loved and above all the need to do what was right. As Alice started the change Bella began to cry, lowering Alice's body to the ground gently.

"She will hate me for this. Stefan did at first and he knew his fate beforehand too. She…"

Edward put a finger on Bella's lips to hush her, "How else do you expect me to stay with you, Bella? You know as well as I do that Aro won't let us leave alive. Yes, I've met Aro and he knows about us. I could see everything when he read my mind. Just like I know why he wants you so bad. I want you for you, Bella, not for your power. Let me love you forever. Let us be free from Aro."

"Edward… you don't know what you're asking of me," her voice was barely a whisper.

"I know I can't lose you and I have no intention of going another day without you in my life if you'll have me. If this is going to happen to me, I want you to do it."

_Stop!! Just stop!_

_I'm ready, my love. _Edward took a step closer to her, but she raised her hands to stop him. Her tear flowing now, he backed her up until she hit her legs on the side of the cot. The love in his gaze was overpowering her. All his emotions rushed into her like a wave crashing into her. When he took that last step forward she crumbled backwards towards the cot, but Edward took her into his arms and pulled her close. As they gazed into each other's eyes he noticed her eyes were slowly turning red and the pink stain on her cheeks from the tears.

With a small cry, Edward sat down, pulling Bella into his lap. Still unsure, but now knowing she really had no choice Bella's lips grazed over Edward's gently. As he pulled her tighter she could hear his heart quickening. Bella bit into his lip, but he didn't even flinch from her. With a soft moan he tried to pull her even closer.

_You're really ready… _She thought as her tears began again.

Bella broke the kiss as his blood began to call to her and turn into an addiction. Still able to think, but only barely, she kissed across his check and down the side of his neck.

_Hurry, Bella, there's not much time._

She looked up at him only a moment before she kissed where his neck met his shoulder. She could feel his hot blood pulsating under her tongue. Edward let out a soft, shaky moan when she locked the spot tenderly just before biting down. He gasped as he felt the blood flow towards the bite, pulling him tight against his chest as his senses overwhelmed him completely. He could feel every emotion around him, but Bella's were the most powerful.

As she turned to wrap her legs around him, Edward grabbed onto Bella's backside and pushed her hard against him as she would go. She gasped, feeling him throbbing against her, but she couldn't stop feeding from him. His blood was like a drug to her and she wanted it all. She felt him fading fast as his body relaxed against hers.

_I love you, Edward. Now bite! _She ordered him with her thoughts.

Bella gently pulled him to her, lending him strength as she places his head near her neck. When his teeth grazed her skin Bella jumped slightly. Edward moved a hand up to hold the back of her neck weakly as he bit into her harder, breaking the skin. He had never tasted anything like her and doubted he ever would again. He felt ageless as the woman in his arms and over a thousand years of memories fluttered through his mind all at once. There's when it all went black.

"My Edward," Bella whispered, holding Edward still as his body succumbed to her blood. She stood carefully, laying him down on the cot before checking on Alice. She could feel the fire burning heavily in Alice.

"This time the change will not take as long…"

Bella touched Alice's head softly and told her to sleep until the fire stops burning. The changing was so different than Stefan and Damon's had been. This time she was the weak one and they were strong; she felt so weak from it. Bella jumped up and moved with vampire speed back to her wall when the hatch opened on the door. The small window opened and human food was pushed through it.

"It won't be long now," she heard the guard say. "When that princess brat wakes up those humans are toast. She better wake up soon, Aro is waiting for her."

There was a mumbling of another voice, "Those two brothers made quick work of that blond. I've never seen such a mess."

Bella covered her mouth as she gasped so she wasn't heard.

**I hate ending this chapter this way, but when they wake up, things will explode. Don't forget about the green button… I really wanna know what ya'll think!**


	13. Chapter 13

**As usual, none of these characters are mine; they belong to Stephenie Meyer, Charlaine Harris and L. J. Smith.**

**Quick notes: Since I've changed the POV to outer you'll see some of the characters thoughts but not everything that happens. This is kind of a Star Trek ending (everything solved in the last 5 minutes), but I do intend to put in an epilogue. I will continue on with other stories of my Bella and her boys. Also, I've started on with a Highlander (won't say which). I am planning on back stories for any other vamps in this story as well as any requested because of this story. Bella's old… she runs into people.**

Thought are ' in this chapter, while spoken is " - a lot easier to edit when posting.

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 13 - The Champions**

It was still evening when Bella woke with a start; someone was pulling her ear.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," said a playful Alice as she looked down on Bella with sparkling green eyes. "Hey Bella."

Looking at her watch, Bella began to wonder why Aro had not come for them yet. She half expected him to be there hours ago. Her mind was racing with various ways to get them out of this situation when she felt a soft hand caressing her cheek from behind her.

'I'm here, my love' she heard Edward tell her silently.

She leaned back against him as her mind sought out her oldest children. She could feel them close and knew they were ready.

"Show time," Bella whispered just as the door opened with a creek.

Demetri stepped through the door and took in the scene before him. Isabella and Edward were seemingly asleep on the makeshift cot while the tiny one was lying with her head next to Bella's hand. All three of them slowly looked up at the same time, in sync.

"Lord Aro requests your presence at once, Lady Isabella," Demetri announced.

Unwilling sitting up, Bella laughed softly, "And if I say no?"

He laughed cruelly, "Then your boys shall suffer dearly."

Bella knew that if Aro really wanted he would kill the Salvatore brothers without batting an eye. She was not ready to lose the, and would do anything to protect them.

"Fine," she growled, standing and heading towards the door. Demetri bowed as she stood then looked over at the other two, "These two humans are to come with you."

"But of course," Bella waved to the others and they stood calmly to follow her.

As they began to walk their way through the dark tunnels, Demetri turned every now and then to watch them.

"Forgive me," he turned, handing Bella a cowled black robe, "This is to replace those shreds you are wearing, my dear."

As he turned she noticed a faint red tinting his eyes. Bella took the garment, shrugging out of her tattered clothes before donning it. Demetri watched her calmly the entire time as Edward averted his eyes. Bella could hear a low growl from Edward.

'Calm yourself Edward,' she send silently, sure that not only could he hear her voice clearly, but feel her indifference to her nudity since she had spent much of her life in very little clothing. He also felt her dread of the upcoming meeting. He read her so clearly it shocked him. As he listened to her he also went in search of others. From Alice he read nothing at all. When he turned to Demetri he didn't read anything except images concerning Bella and they irritated him. From the sense of the images though he knew the pictures he saw were entirely fantasy. With a wink toward Edward Bella put on the robe loosely and pulled the hood up over her still bloody hair. The corridors that they walked down seemed to stretch on for miles, but in fact it was a very short walk to the elevator at the end of the corridors and slightly up the stairwell.

"My Lady," Demetri bowed, allowing Bella and her entourage to go first.

Bella slid quietly passed him, taking Edward's hand in hers as soon as he entered behind her.

'How are you feeling?' she asked Edward.

'A bit strange is all; everything looks so different now… so vivid. My throat feels like it's on fire,' Edward answered.

'This is so cool!' Alice interrupted with a mental giggle.

'I will give you some blood shortly, but not yet. Please try to hold back.' Bella told them both.

About half way to the penthouse Alice stiffened like a board. His mind racing Edward watched her vision playing through her head while Bella read the emotions that followed after seeing it. Edward's grip tightened on Bella's.

'Isabella?' he mentally whispered.

"Here we go," Demetri said quietly as the elevator door opened.

The lobby looking area was wide open with no windows at all. A lonely looking human sat behind the desk and looked up at them as the small group passed before her. As they got to the large bronze doors they were greeted by a small blond teenager in a black cloak just like Bella's.

"Jane," Bella said stiffly.

"Nice to see you again, Isabella. It was been too long since you have graced these halls. These robes look very good on you. I do so hope you intend on joining out little group."

Bella ground her teeth slightly and growled out, "Can we please get this over with?"

Jane's smiled faded completely, "As you wish," she opened the doors easily as she led the way in. The inside of the room opened out into a circular room with a high domed ceiling; along the outer edges of the room stood vast columns of stone. At the back of the room above several stairs on a high ledge sat three thrones, each with a very old vampire sitting upon them. The one on the left had slightly curling long black hair and looked extremely bored, Marius. The gentleman on the right had long straight hair and reminded her Lucius Malfoy, his name was Caius. Aro sat in the middle between them. Just below them on the steps sat Damon and Stefan Salvatore, their shirts caked with dried blood. Aro stood and clapped his hands once, stepping down towards them.

"Isabella, my dear, finally you come to me," Aro took her hand, watching her carefully. He looked up at her frustrated once more, "Those robes do not do you justice, my lady; perhaps something more suitable for your station?"

"No thank you, Aro," her voice ice.

He looked over to Edward and took his hand, "And Edward, I'm so glad you have recovered from… your…" he trailed off, turning Edward's hand over in his. "What have you done?" he demanded from Bella.

"Aro," Marcus raised his hand towards Aro, beckoning him back.

Aro went back to Marcus to hear what he had to say before continuing. As he took Marcus's hand he could see the unbreakable bonds between the vampires and who he thought were humans before him. While he was turned, Bella beckoned Damon and Stefan to her side. They stood in front of her like guards. Stefan grabbed her hand and sent Bella his full emotions silently.

"Bella, where is Jasper?" Alice whispered as quietly as she could, not realizing everyone in the room could clearly hear her.

Damon flinched, turning back towards Aro. Stefan turned slightly green before turning towards Bella for only one second.

'One more minute,' was all he said to her.

Aro turned back to them with a smile, "Interesting to know how strong your bond is to Isabella, young Edward. I thought your bond to Damon and Stefan was strong, but this… this goes beyond any limits I have ever seen. I still wish to know why I can no longer read you. Is this your doing, Isabella?"

"It is," she answered in a deadpan voice.

"Jane," he turned slightly to the little blond.

Jane concentrated on Edward. Nothing. Her eyes met Bella's next hen each of the other vampires that stood before her. Nothing. With each failure she got more and more angry.

"Excellent!" Aro clapped, "You have learned some new tricks, I see."

A sudden calmness came over the room. It was very subtle but enough to notice. Alice gasped, covering her mouth.

"You can't imagine what I've learned," Bella smiled. "You cannot read us, Aro, so why did you force me to come here?"

"You already know, my dearest Isabella. Your powers would be a welcomed addition to the Volturri and I will no longer take no for an answer. Contrary to what Marcus believe I would also like to have you as my right arm again."

Bella pinched the bridge of her nose," Caius, what say you?" Then she looked up at the blond.

"I care not, Isabella. We all know you strive for peace so I see no harm in releasing you," he answered casually.

"Marcus," she turned her attention to the other vampire.

"Dear daughter," he started, studying Bella's stunned expression, "you may go if I were to choose."

Bella took a step back as his words sent a shock through her entire system. All this time she had thought it was Aro that had made her, but she never knew for sure. She always felt some attachment when in this hall, but until just now she did not know it was Marcus. Now to hear this, her innermost prayers were answered. She smiled softly to Marcus before turning to the enraged Aro. The feelings of calmness intensified until Aro set tinged down.

"How?" Aro looked around for the source.

Bella offered her wrist to Edward when she saw his eyes change blood red, momentarily ignoring Aro. Alice stepped forward to take her other one. Bella touched each of their cheeks briefly before they bit into her.

Edward's bloodlust had blinded him until he bit into Bella. She tasted like heaven as her blood soothed his burning nerves. Slowly he came back to his senses, feeling the calmness all around him. He pressed closer to Bella, his hunger now satisfied. Edward looked up and saw the one called Marcus smirking down on them from his throne. Stefan stood protectively in front of Bella, blocking Aro's view from here he stood before the throne. When Damon stepped closer he looked back to see what Bella had been doing. With a smile he turned back to Aro with an arched eyebrow. Alice let go of Bella quickly when she felt someone else enter the room. Spinning around, Alice guarded Bella's back as a she spotted a shadow by the door. His clothing dripping in blood, the lurking shadow stepped forward.

"Jasper, come forward," Bella quietly told him.

"Yes, Bella," Jasper appeared by her side silently. His blond hair was caked with blood just as Bella's.

"You've turned them all," Aro looked over the vampires standing before him, "Each has something truly special inside them. Join us, Bella, you and your family."

Bella took Jasper's arm and with a soft glow from her fingertips the last of the remaining wounds healed before Aro's eyes.

"Aro, I am a peaceful woman; you know this. I do not wish to fight or for anyone to get hurt by this. If you release us now there will be no bloodshed."

"Is that a threat, my lady?" Aro growled.

"No, Aro, it's the truth," she answered simply.

Marcus stood silently, stepping down to stand next to Aro, "Let her leave, Aro, before news of her capture travels. You must trust me; you do not want a war."

Aro looked over everyone in the room as the metal doors flung open. The human woman was thrown in bodily.

"Sire, there is a North man, soldier and one other here for Lady Isabella," she said hurriedly.

Aro sighed, shaking his head before heading back to his chair. He looked longingly over Bella before answering.

"Send them in."

Eric, Bill and Godric stormed in, pushing the human out of the way to stand near Bella. Godric put his hand on Bella's shoulder carefully, his eyes stern.

"I see I will not win this one," he sighed, "Go then, my lady, please consider my invitation."

"It will always be no, Aro."

**This is almost the end… please don't forget about the green button… I really wanna know what ya'll think!**


	14. Chapter 14

**As usual, none of these characters are mine; they belong to Stephenie Meyer, Charlaine Harris and L. J. Smith.**

**Since it's been so long, how about a recap (some of this is in other stories):**

_Bella was born as Isabella Pulcheria, sometimes she goes by the name of Isebeau to hide her identity. She was born in 385 to the Italian royal family. She was hidden shortly after birth to protect her from her family's enemies. Just after she turned 17 she was attacked by one of those enemies and left for dead. A vampire found her and made her what she is today; his name… Marcus of the Volturi. She befriended Godric soon after she was turned and his 'son' Eric later in 1066. Around 1534 she turned Damon and Stefan Salvatore after they had tried to kill each other. Several years later she met Angus McKay and also travelled with him and his family. Sometime near 1690 she ran into Connor McLeod and nearly killed him when the highlander attacked her and her boys. In current times she works at Merlotte's bar and goes to high school. She meets Edward Cullen (human) and his family (also all human). Edward was kidnapped by the homicidal nomad Victoria, who worked for the Volturi (mainly Aro). After Edward was gone the vampires revealed themselves to everyone. Bella, Damon and Stefan travelled to Italy to Edward back. They were captured in battle. Soon after, Alice and Jasper followed, also getting captured. Bella turned both Alice and Edward, making herself very weak. Unknowingly, Damon had turned Jasper, making it look like he had killed Jasper in the process. Now all vampires, they defied Aro and he is forced to release them to prevent a war among vampires._

**Quick notes: By popular demand this story will continue past this chapter…**

Thought are ' in this chapter, while spoken is " - a lot easier to edit when posting.

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter 14 – Now what?**

_Dawn was too close._

With all the vampires in the room, Bella turned to Edward and kissed him softly before nodding to the trio sitting on the thrones and turning to leave. Her back was covered by the tall North man and Godric as she made her way passed the frightened human and out the door. Outside the night was now well advanced, but according to the large clock on the wall dawn was not far off. Bella knew Damon and Stefan would be fine, but she worried about the others. She searched her memories for somewhere out of the sun, but everywhere she thought of had long since been destroyed. She couldn't seem to concentrate on her memories to find a place nearby that would be safe. They took the stairs straight to the ground floor in seconds, not wanting to wait for the elevators. From the road outside the building looked just the same as the others around it; just a bit more rich looking. Everyone looked to Bella once they were outside, but she stood very still, partially leaning on Edward.

"Come with me, I know of where we can go," Eric went to the front of the group and led them down the street, passing many vampires on their way out of the city. Out in the country they ran across an old farm with many ruins on it. No other homes were in site and the main house was far from where they were headed.

Bella looked around with tears in her eyes, instantly recognizing the place. "Oh no," she whispered, going straight to the stone doors on the ground. She grabbed the door, slightly stumbling as she moved it aside, dropping into the darkness below. "I had forgotten about this place," she whispered, her voice echoing in the recesses of the chamber, as the others followed her down the hole. The walls had not changed in a hundred years except for the cobwebs. They still had the sketches she had done ages ago in the cold stone.

Edward put his arms across her shoulders, holding her close, "Where are we, Bella?"

She looked up, wiping her tears away, "This was my home a very long time ago. We will be safe here until this evening." She held Edward's hand in hers as she walked down one of the underground tunnels. "I can't believe you remembered this place, Eric."

Eric smiled, "It is a good place to hide and there is plenty of room down here to move around. I'm afraid most of your belongings have long since disintegrated, but there still should be a few things in your old quarters."

As Eric spoke, his eyes followed the movements of the small Alice, who was dancing around the room to no music. The tiny new vampire already moved with the grace of royalty. There was something about her that he could not put his finger on. Godric had also been watching the fragile looking girl. Jasper had followed Bella and Edward back into the dark corridors, finding an empty room to lie down in. Since he was turned Jasper hadn't said anything except his one response to Bella. In the main room, Damon began pacing; his arms folded and head down.

"Damon, you know that won't help anything," Stefan told him simply, watching everyone get adjusted as the sun rose outside.

Damon growled at Stefan, "I know she is safe here, but I'm not sure about Edward. He seems… different since his change. He better not hurt her."

"Bella can take care of herself, Damon, she always has. With all of us here I doubt Edward would be stupid enough to hurt her."

Godric looked up, "She's strong, Damon, you know that." He looked down the hallway where Bella and Edward had gone, lowering his voice, "but turning Edward and Alice took a lot out of her. She must rest. Why don't you go hunt for her? That would be more help than stirring up all the dust in here."

Eric turned towards them, a bitter tone to his voice, "Let her heal, boy."

Damon growled at Eric, but backed away when Eric stood, "Fine," within a second he was gone.

Stefan turned to Eric, "He's handling this well."

"Now is not the time for jokes, boy." Eric answered quietly, keeping his ears open for Bella. He could hear how shallow her breath was. "Come, we need to help her."

As Eric, Bill, Godric and Stefan started down the fall, Edward came running down the hall, "Please help her!" He was panicked, turning back and heading back to Bella.

**Sorry this chapter is so short…. I just wanted to let everyone know I am continuing this past just one chapter… after all, we have to know how these new vampires will fit into their new lives. Hopefully I'll have something longer up soon... RL has got me sooooo busy! **

**Also, I'm kinda stuck on How Sweet It Is & I Can't Take It Anymore, if ya'll read that one any input would really be appreciated.  
**


	15. Chapter 15

**As usual, none of these characters are mine. I've just totally changed their lives! Thank you to all who write me reviews, they keep me going!**

**Chapter 15 – Time Catches Up To You**

As the group of vampires stepped into the room, each of them gazed upon the still form of Bella on the ancient bed. Her eyes were closed and her skin more gray than any of them had ever seen her. Each one of the men slowly stepped around her and took different points near the makeshift bed. Edward sat right by her side carefully, his hand in hers.

"What has happened to her?" he pleaded to the group of men before him.

Godric was the first to respond, though he took his time and replied deathly quiet, "I do not think Damon will return in time to save her. She has lost too much blood and her body has shut down and gone into deep sleep." He took her ankle and pushed on it slightly in a place only he knew on her, and then shook his head when Bella did not respond to him. "We need to get blood into her now before she is too far gone."

Eric stood, moving closer to Bella's side, taking Edwards hand from Bella's and pulling him back, "Move boy," he growled.

Instantly, Edward hissed, responding on instinct as his Bella was being taken from him. Eric responded too, taking Edward by the neck and lifting him off the ground, "Stay out of the way boy or our beloved Isabella will die her final death." Then Eric tosses him aside, biting into his wrist and putting it to Bella's lips. When she didn't respond, Godric had to pry her mouth open and tilt her head so the blood would go down automatically.

Behind them, Edward passed out, sliding to the ground with a thump, the sun finally taking him to his death sleep even as he fought it.

"Newborns," Godric muttered, shaking his head.

After a few moments, Eric bit into his wrist again when it healed, "Respond, damn it," he told Bella, who was still as death.

When Eric began to feel dizzy, Bill stepped up. He knew very little about this girl except for her association with Sookie from before. She never would have thought Eric, or even Godric knew of her at all. `Just how old is she?` Bill bit into his wrist and did much the same as Eric, feeding her his blood, having to bite his wrist several times before backing up. Bill could clearly feel the suns pull strongly now and stepped out before his death sleep took him.

With one hand still holding open Bella's mouth Godric bit into his own wrist to feed Bella. He knew that as old as his blood was, it should make some kind of difference in her. He stayed there for a very long time, watching her carefully for any sort of movement or color change. Bella's shading did seem less grey, but she did not move. Most vampires did heal in their sleep, but when they were like this their bodies shut down completely for months, even years at a time before they would wake again if they ever did. They needed her now and there was no time left for them if she died. Each and every one of them was tied to her in one way or another. After biting once more on his wrist to feed her, he did notice her color was now noticeably less grey, but really did not except her to move for a while yet. He stepped back as Damon entered with a stag over his shoulder.

"Is she responding at all," Damon asked Godric, his soft voice full of concern.

Godric sighed, standing more towards the wall as Damon deposited his catch in the corner. From the sound of the heartbeat, the deer was still very much alive, but still as death. Godric quirked his eyebrow at Damon, surprised that he knew of a trick he himself had taught Bella.

"Come, Eric, there is nothing we can do until the sun sets," Godric led Eric out of the room, but not before they both stopped to watch the girl several times. Out in the hall they passed both Alice and Jasper in separate rooms, both of them resting on the flood as if sleep took them suddenly.

"Do you think she will make it?" Eric asked his Maker.

Godric grinned, turning his head slightly, "She has been with us too long not to. Our beloved Isabella is too stubborn to give up like this. When I was in there I could almost feel her coming back. It was very faint, but there was a glow to her skin that could not be mistaken for anything else but her powers. I hate to leave her with Damon and Stefan, but if anyone can calm her if and when she wakens, it will be those two. Rest but do keep one ear open as always for her calls. This should be an interesting evening." Godric turned away from Eric as they went into the rooms that they each had last time they were here. Nothing had been touched since those days. He gently picked up the gold locket that remained on a well worn press, putting it in his pocket. 'Good to know that some things do not change.' He sat on the floor, knowing the old bed would not hold him anymore. His memories of this place were still very sharp as if they had only happened yesterday. 'She can't end like this.' He fought sleeping, but knew he would need his strength at sunset… sleep took him.

Back in Bella's bedroom, Damon knelt by Bella and touched his blood covered fingers to her lips. Stefan took Godric's place and held her mouth open as Damon took out his knife and nicked his wrist before placing it in Bella's mouth. Damon did notice that Bella had lost most of her color and this scared him more than anything he had ever felt. Through his bond with his Maker he knew that Bella was still with them, but felt nothing else. He felt so hollow and empty inside that it pained him physically not to feel her. As Damon looked up at Stefan he knew that his brother was feeling the pain too. The two of them took turns feeding Bella their own blood as they fed from the deer in turn, as well as feeding her the hot blood of the still very much alive deer. They worked quietly, both panicked at the apparent loss of their beloved Bella.

As the day dragged on the two boys finally stepped back, watching for any changes in Bella, but neither of them could see a change other than a slight color change. Even before the sun fell Godric appeared in the doorway of the old room, rolling up his sleeves. By then Damon had removed the now dead deer to somewhere in the woods outside, but the room smelled strongly of blood still.

Godric looked over Bella carefully before speaking, "She has a bit more color," he looked over to Damon, "Has there been any movement in her at all?"

Stefan looked up, his face blood streaked with tears, "Nothing," he said quietly.

Godric stepped over to her and repeated what he did before with her ankle. Her leg seemed to move a bit more easily, but still there was no response from her. With a sigh he lowered her leg again, patting her ankle.

Stefan stood, walking back to the other side of the bed where he spent most of the day, "She should wake up any moment now if it worked."

Damon bent to Bella's side, opening her eyelid slightly to check her eyes before resuming his position, "This isn't going to be good. Her eyes are red."

All Godric did was shake his head, he was watching Bella's hand, which twitched only slightly.

"Eric. Bill. Now." Eric said simply, knowing the other two would hear him clearly. The other two vampires appeared almost immediately, taking points around Bella. Damon and Stefan began to fidget as if something in them was on fire. On the floor, Edward also began to shake a bit in his sleep.

"The sun is almost down," Bill said, watching the girl on the bed and Stefan, who was closest to him. Eric lifted his eyes to Damon, ready for the worst.

When Jasper stepped into the room a bit wild eyed they knew it was time for something to happen.

"Jasper, can you hear me?" Godric turned only slightly to him, touching his shoulder.

Jasper only nodded.

"Jasper," he had to repeat, getting the vampires attention, "stand against the wall and stay there."

Jasper nodded, still dazed, backing to the wall and standing there. Alice came in, holding her head, running right into Godric, who held her still. Alice's eyes were completely blank, baring her teeth.

"Oh shit," Bill gasped, looking over to Stefan, and then grabbing the boy's hands when Stefan turned to attack the much younger vampire. Damon turned on Eric just as quickly, but the Viking caught him easily, holding him in place. At the same time Edward snapped up and Alice attacked Godric. Godric held them both still, handing one to Bill, the other to Eric.

Godric stood at the foot of the bed, now free to act as Bella slowly opened her eyes, baring her teeth. She looked over at her children being held back from her and hissed at both Eric and Bill, her hands turning into claws.

"Isabella," Godric leaned forward, keeping his fangs in as he spoke. "Isabella, I am Godric. Please remember me."

Bella growled at Godric, taking a swipe at him, which he quickly drew back from before it connected.

"Isabella, don't you remember me?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out the locket, holding it up to show her.

Bella stopped instantly, her eyes zeroing in on the locket before hissing at Bill, then Eric in turn. Damon seemed to regain his senses, Stefan soon after. Alice returned to a glazed look, her fangs still extended, but she looked more hungry than anything. Edward seemed half crazed still.

"Do you remember this, Isabella? You gave me this the year you met Eric here." He motioned to Eric, "You worked the metal for it right in front of me. The details in it are still just as they were." Godric held it for her to see, but Bella's eyes were simply staring at the locket expressionless.

When Bella woke up she felt a fire inside her like none she had ever known. She could not place the feeling inside her at all except that her throat felt so dry that it could crack like sand in the desert and burning just as hot. She opened her eyes, seeing others being held around her that she knew to be connected to her and panicked, warning off the short vampire at the end of the bed that was advancing on her. She felt connected to them all, but for some reason could not remember any of them; that only irritated her more. When the old one held up a necklace, Bella recognized it instantly, but not from where. She followed it with her eyes carefully, trying to remember where she knew it, but couldn't. Too hungry to think she tore off the bed, pushing past the short one who caught her in his arms and held her tight to his chest, his chest to her back.

"Let go of me!"

Bella kicked with all her might, hissing at the old one and glaring at the other vampires in the room. Only one was reacting with her, a tall young man with beautiful green eyes. The very tall blond was holding him against the wall with one hand, watching the scene carefully.

"No Isabella. I will not let you go. I know you must be hungry and things here look strange, but you need to calm down and talk to us. I promise no harm will come to you at all. We only wish to talk to you." Godric's voice remained level and calm as he spoke to her.

Damon stepped forward, lightly touching the back of Bella's cheek, but she hissed and snapped at his hand. His face fell, not sure of what to make of what happened to her. Stefan stayed near Alice, watching her for any reactions to what Bella was going through, but her face was totally blank. It was almost like the stare she went into when she was having her visions.

Bella refused to calm down though and took a hold of Godric's hand, digging into it sharply and shocking him without realizing what she had done. Her power surged through her nails, striking him to his knees, but his grip remained strong around her. Eric looked back and forth between Bella and Edward; both of them were moving exactly the same.

"Godric," Eric spoke calmly, his head nodding to Edward. Godric took in the reactions of the two, releasing Bella and pushing her at Edward as Eric released the newborn. The two met in the middle like magnets, pulled tightly to one another. Only their hands and eyes joined, but nothing else.

"Bella," Edward said, his eyes focusing now into hers less wildly, his mind returning to him.

Bella only looked at Edward with uncertainty and question. All around her she felt a sudden calm that came out of nowhere. Her body eased, her panic and fear leaving her as quickly as it hit her. She still did not know who this person was or where she was. Everything around her felt so alien and unreal. These cold strangers watched her every move and though she was now not afraid of them she wanted to know what was going on. Not to mention what she did to the old one. 'Where had that come from?'

Bella looked around the room carefully, taking in the faces around her. All of them were pale and held a pale glow that gleamed with otherworldness. If they were going to hurt her, she would be dead by now, she was sure. She was only one against so many… The dark haired one that touched her before stepped back up to her and touched her face again, but this time she only flinched away from the hand. The touch soothed her this time, but she did not want to be touched. The short one, who the blond had called Godric, was still right behind her.

"Where am I?" Bella whispered, her hands dropping from Edward, but one hand kept his tightly.

"We are in central France, my lady. This used to be our home long ago." With one hand Godric indicated Eric and himself. "I am Godric, you have known me most of your life. This," he indicated Eric again, "is my child Eric, also one of the lovers in your life. This is Bill, an associate of mine." He waved to Bill, but Bella's eyes only followed barely glancing at him. "These two," he waved to Damon and Stefan, "are your children, Damon and Stefan Salvatore. Their child is the curly blond headed boy in the corner."

Bella looked at the blond boy. His face watched her carefully and he looked like he was concentrating very hard on her. 'Strange boy.'

"Am I married?" Bella spoke in wonder, her voice quiet and somewhat sad.

"You are bonded to most of us, but in human terms you are not married, no."

Bella started at that and then looked over to Alice and the hand she held.

"The man whose hand you are holding is Edward Cullen, also your child. The tiny girl over there with the dazed look is Alice Cullen. These two are your newest children. They are only one day old."

Bella looked quickly between the two, letting go of Edward's hand before looking back at Godric.

"You must be joking; these are adults, not babies."

Eric stepped around the pair, "Do you know who you are? What you are?"

Frustrated, Bella threw up her hands, "Apparently my name is Bella, I am a human girl; other than that I have no idea." She covered her eyes with her hands, "I hate this."


	16. Chapter 16

**As usual, none of these characters are mine. I've just totally changed their lives! I read back through the chapters and realized I messed a few things up, hopefully in this one I can fix them. I created a page for Times are Changing at - http:/ kat (dot) of-the-night (dot) com /FanFiction / -. Please leave me a PM on here to let me know what you think **** I also put on there a fixed timeline (does contain some spoilers). And yes, changing history again.**

_Frustrated, Bella threw up her hands, "Apparently my name is Bella, I am a human girl; other than that I have no idea." She covered her eyes with her hands, "I hate this."_

**Chapter 16 – Remember Who You Are**

Godric wasn't ready for this. He knew that Bella might not remember recent events since her body had shut down, but it had never occurred to him that all of her memories would be gone. It pained him to see her so… human. She had always been so strong and never gave up on anything. The main thing they needed now was to get home and right now he had to concentrate on that.

"Eric," he said quietly. Eric nodded, taking out his cell phone and moving at vampire speed back to the entrance of the underground lair.

"First thing is first my lady; Eric is getting the plane ready to go home. Once you are returned to more familiar surroundings your memory should return." He stopped and turned to Bill, "Call the shifter, let him know what has happened. He will make sure that the correct people are notified in town." With that, Bill nodded, also heading towards the outside door.

"Let us get these young ones fed quickly," Godric offered his hand to Bella, but she backed away from it, her fangs flashing before she took Edward's hand. The couple passed Godric quietly with Edward leading since he could still remember who he was and where he was; the other vampires followed closely. Stefan stopped at the door, walking over to Alice and pulled her along with them. She had not moved an inch since Bella had released the tight hold she had on the newborn.

As Bella walked down the small hallway she marveled at the architecture of the cavern like building. She felt very brittle under the solidness. It was obvious that these people know her, and even more obvious that she was someone important to them. Edward looked up into her eyes and drew her closer. For some reason she felt more years on her than she could possibly imagine. Before they reached the doorway that lead to the outside Bella turned slightly, taking Alice's hand, causing her to jolt violently.

"Bella!" Alice's eyes focused completely on Bella.

Godric turned and gasped, pulling the two apart, sinking to his knees as he gets hit with the backlash. Alice looked at Godric in wonder, very confused on what happened.

Slowly standing up, Godric put his hand on Alice's shoulder, "I will explain in a bit, not here."

Alice looked over to Bella, not sure whether to trust this man, but Bella seemed unconcerned about going with him. She was still scared, but trusted Bella's opinion in this… even if Bella did not know who everyone was the girl had a sense of things that she'd never seen in another. She couldn't help but trust her.

The opening in the main room was open in the ceiling as they approached. Bella could hear Bill and Eric's voices outside in the darkness. Stefan took Alice in his arms, jumping straight up into the high hole. Jasper had been talking quietly with Damon for a moment before he too jumped up the hole with Damon following close behind. That left Edward, Godric and Bella alone in the room. Bella looked at the two of them and smiled, letting go of Edwards hand to kiss him on the cheek. Quietly she stepped over to Godric and kisses his cheek, jumping up through the 10 foot high hole without thinking and laughing.

"It looks like she remembers her skills," Edward whispered in wonder, looking over to Godric.

Godric only looked at him thoughtfully.

"I hope I am not rude to ask this, but who exactly are you?" Edward asked.

"I am Godric. I have no other name and do not need another one. I have known out Isabella since she was a very young vampire. I knew her family when she lived and of her," he sighed, "She was such a beautiful child. I only wish I came back to her before she was attacked, but I was not near her then. She found me eight years after she was turned, still wild and untamed. She is my mother, my sister and my daughter in many ways and at one time my lover." When Edward took a step back, Godric continued, "I do not lie, Edward, I love her deeply, but I crave for her happiness and safety. She is the last of her bloodline and extremely powerful. Bella in the state she is in right now could quite possibly obliterate an entire town in the blink of an eye and not even realize she did it. She needs her memories back. Not to mention what would happen if she would walk in the sun without that necklace."

Edward cringed at that one.

"We are all tied to her in blood if not duty. Bella is the only woman I have ever met that wants nothing but happiness around her and has the power to make it that way. True happiness, not just the appearance of it. She could be queen, but she cares not for wealth like her birth family had taught her."

With a smile, Edward spoke, "You still love her, don't you?"

"And I always will, but I have duties as king that I must attend to now. I will come when she calls or needs me, but I learned long ago that she was destined for another. I am her teacher and protector."

Edward was quiet for a while before he heard Bella's call from above.

"Thank you, Godric."

Godric nodded and jumped up after Bella. Following his example, Edward jumped up after him, landing a ways away from where everyone was.

When Bella appeared out of the ground laughing, Eric stood in shock, but held his arms up as she flew into his arms. In all his years of knowing Bella she had never looked so young… so vibrant. S looked truly beautiful in the moonlight. Looking up into his eyes, Bella gasped and jumped back.

"Sorry, Eric, I did not mean to jump into you," she was still giggling, her face slightly flushed from all the blood she had taken. With their bond renewed Eric could feel his joy as his own and he could not help but smile. Her face suddenly went serious as if she was listening to something in the distance. Edward and Godric's voices echoed lightly across the field. Everyone looked to Bella to see how she would react, but only stood totally still, a single pink tear rolling down her cheek. Eric stepped to her, taking her in his arms tightly as they listened to the pair below. Kissing her neck slightly, Eric winked then backed away when the conversation ended.

"Edward," Bella spoke quietly, watching Godric, then Edward fly out of the hole in the ground. Godric landed gracefully, but Edward was nowhere in sight. Damon started laughing at the commotion in the trees as Edward hit the ground.

"Over here," he said, embarrassed.

Eric took Bella in his arms, Damon taking Alice as the group sped off towards the airport. Godric lead the back way through the fields until in no time they appeared in a hanger.

"Good evening, Mr. Elder. We will be ready within ten minutes, please feel free to climb aboard." The pilot was walking around the tiny, light tight plane making ready for takeoff. He did not even seem surprised by the sudden appearance of nine vampires. Godric seemed unconcerned as he bowed at the waist, gesturing for Bella to board first.

Looking around, Bella took Edward's hand again before boarding the plane. The insides looked nothing like a passenger liner and were spacious and comfortable. As Eric and Godric entered, Bella had to speak, seeing Edward and Alice shaking and pale.

"Guys…" she looked over at Edward and Alice, who sat on a long sofa on the side of the plane.

"Already taken care of," Eric disappeared into the galley and brought out two red bottles. "I knew you if you could remember yourself you would want them to have this. It will satisfy their hunger as well as help them with their alertness."

Edward and Alice took the bottles doubtfully, then as Eric and Stefan nodded to encourage them to drink deeply, as they did they were looking much better already. Damon only turned away in disgust, flopping down in a chair and flipping on the television. Feeling very much how she looked, Bella popped up and stood in front of Damon.

"You're Damon?"

He nodded, rolling his eyes at her sudden childish attitude. Since she had always had him under her tiny thumb he smiled, loving this more relaxed version of her.

"How are you my child when you're older that I?" As she spoke, her accent hit her hard; the more recent vampires had some trouble understanding her.

"You are not human, my love. You, my dearest Isabella, are a vampire and have been for many years." He touched her necklace, pulling it from her skin, "This allows you to walk in the daylight and only you know how to do it." He pulled her closer, his face only inches from his, "And I love you deeply, my angel."

Bella stood stone still and then pulled back, yanking her arms away from Damon, "Okay."

When Stefan stepped up to her she put her hands up in a stop motion. Her eyes searched around the cabin until she found Edward again. For some reason she felt the most comfortable with this boy, but did not know why. Like tasting the air, Bella could feel the emotions around her. She couldn't detect any deceit, only annoyance and in some cases amusement. Above all the main emotion she felt was love and deep passion; the feelings were so strong she could barely handle them. She kept her hands up, warning everyone back as she sorted feelings as they came to her.

From Bill she felt curiosity, nothing more.

From Damon she felt amusement and passion.

From Alice she felt confusion and cheerfulness; for some reason that made sense to Bella.

From Stefan she felt calm and the need to protect.

From Jasper she felt nothing; his emotions were a blank to her.

From Eric she felt passion, lust and possessiveness; no surprise there.

From Godric she felt longing, love and confidence; that made her smile.

From Edward she felt love, loyalty and an almost panic.

"I'm feeling your emotions, aren't I?" she asked no one in particular. Remembering something, she looked at Godric, "May I see the locket?"

Before he could answer the pilot came over the intercom to let them know they were taking off. Everyone took a seat and buckled down as they took off. Bella was distracted then, looking out the window at the wonders below. Clearly from the window she could see all the wonders of Paris.

"Someday I'd like to come back here; if anything, just to see it in the daylight." Bella whispered.

Damon winked at her, "Sure thing, my Bella. We'll come back."

As she watched the city below the plane leveled out and Bella heard several seat belts click. She felt someone behind her, and then a locket dangled in front of her eyes. It was delicate and had lifelike details on it.

"This was your first successful spell for day walking. Inside is the one of the same stones you wear on your neck. You gave it to me just before we parted from travelling together for many years. At that time we, you, Eric and I had been together for around twenty years. We were forced apart by Aro and then you went into hiding. Once you had left us I took it to our home and left it on the table, hoping one day you would find it again. I could not wear it without you to stand in the light with me."

Bella stifled her tears feeling very… scared all of a sudden. She knew at least three of them men around her cared for her deeply and other than her attachment to Edward she had no idea how she felt about these gentlemen. She felt lost, pulling away from Edward and going over to a window, watching the stars. Eric tried to walk to her, but Godric put his hand up.

"Give her time; this is a lot to take in. She makes us all… emotional." He nodded his head to the galley, where Stefan, Damon and Bill followed, each taking a blood to drink.

"Is she always like this? Even Sookie seemed to act different around her." Bill asked, feeling confused at his new emotions. He'd never been around Bella this closely and definitely had never given her his blood before. He was feeling more human now than he had since Lorena had turned him. Though he was enjoying the feeling, he felt slightly lost and that he did not like. "Why do you let her live when she does this to you?"

All their fangs snapped down and there was growling all around.

Bill stepped back, realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry; it's a little disorienting feeling like this again."

Eric growled at Bill, "Enjoy it while it lasts. When she is more herself she will be more in control of her… essence and we will be able to block most of this from us." He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate and pulled out another blood to drink, slightly shaking.

Godric looked at Bill in anger and then sighed, "She is bonded to all of us. When we were with her, we tied ourselves to her each in our own times. She is strong and with all us together she is so much stronger still. We all watch her, even when she doesn't know it. I brought you with us so you'd know why she must be protected." His face darkened, "We know of others who plan to hurt her and with your help we can protect her. The shifter was to send others if we did not contact him by this evening. If she knew herself Bella would be the most dangerous vampire in existence, but she chooses to live in peace. If others get a hold on her, she could change and that would be dangerous."

Godric looked over his shoulder as he saw Bella approach them, pushing Damon roughly out of the way to get a bottle of blood, heating it and drinking it like she had been doing it for years, not asking where anything was. Everyone stared at her.

"What?" She asked, wondering what she did wrong now.

"Isabella?" Stefan asked his accent thick with emotion.

"What Stefan?" She answered like a teenager, when he didn't answer she shrugged him off, elbowing Eric as she walked back into the main cabin.

Damon started laughing quietly, "She is going to be a handful." They watched her as she curled up by the window, watching the starts. Slowly, as if she wasn't really thinking about it she started singing lowly. As the other vampires filed into the room, watching her, she ignored them. With a flip of a panel, Godric pulled up the music selection and played the music she was singing quietly. The Impossible Dream began playing lowly over the intercom. Edward joined her, putting his hand on her shoulder as he too watched out the window at the clouds below and the stars above.

Most of the rest of the flight was quiet. Damon and Jasper talked about the details of being a vampire. Alice kept jumping around, sorting out the mixed visions she kept having and Bill and Stefan helped her to focus on it so she could tell what she was seeing more clearly. Edward whispered what she saw to Bella, who only listened to those around her. Eric and Godric were on the phone in another part of the cabin for the longest time.

"How did we meet?" Bella asked Edward.

With a smile Edward began his story, telling every detail he could remember. The cabin volume lowered a bit, but everyone else continued their work. For some reason Bella knew they were all listening to them talk. Towards the end of the story, Stefan stepped up to the panel and changed the music. Eric looked up, recognizing the station that played at Fangtasia.

Eric stood up and strode towards Bella, offering his hand with a bow, "Isabella, min kärlek, vill du dansa?" (Isabella, my love, would you like to dance?) With a nod, she stood and began to dance with Eric, laughing every now and then. She may not be able to remember who she was, but she did remember she loved to dance. Partway through the dance Eric nuzzled near her ear then pulled away before she could protest. As he changed the dance to a waltz, she was traded to Godric for a song, then Stefan for another. When it was Damon's turn he turned to scandalize with the way he danced. Bella blushed very faintly at that.

Bill stood back and watched the large group of vampires with longing. They were like a huge family, each was closely bonded and though there were some jealous feelings, each put them aside for the love of the one girl in the middle, whom everyone danced with or around. He laughed when Alice stepped in and danced like only a teen girl in current times would, teaching Bella a few steps in the process. They both laughed as Stefan joined in the dancing. As the sun was about to rise, everyone felt it.

"The pilot is flying slow enough to be sure it will be dark in Dallas when we arrive." Godric reassured them all. "I suggest we get some sleep for now. Tomorrow will be a very long day."

The bedroom was spacious as the rest of the plane. Bella crawled into the middle one of the large beds, feeling Edward crawl up behind her, putting his arm around her. Damon took the spot in front of her before anyone else could. She could feel others on the king sized bed too, but did not know who they were. She only knew many people were at least touching a part of her as she fell asleep.

**A little extra on this one to make up for a long wait on the update. Next chapter we'll get more into what will happen at home… and what has happened with her gone. Please review! I live off of reviews and they make me want to write more. Starting the next chapter of How Sweet It Is tomorrow morning… hopefully will have it up tomorrow. First Meeting I need ideas on… anything will help! **


	17. Chapter 17

**Yea! Finally thought of the name for the town… this isn't where that actual Texas town is, but I didn't want to use a real one. As usual, none of these characters are mine. I'm in dire need of a beta…**

**Chapter 17 – Back Home **

Friday the 13th – Merlotte's

Sookie stood at the bar watching her best friend show the world who she really is. Bella had told her a long time ago who she was, but she could tell from the moment she saw her that she was something different. As she listened to most of the people in the bar, most thought it was a Halloween trick, their eyes going from the five vampires to the television. Most of them were really excited to see the boy in the kilt on the bar, but shied away from Damon; he looked deadly with his face and teeth like that.

As the show went off, Bella disappeared into the back with her boys briefly and the night continued as if nothing happened. A few asked Bella her age, but she only smiled with answering.

After a few times Sam answered for her, "It ain't polite to ask a woman her age, ya'll."

Everything laughed at that one, smiling at the slight blush from Bella. Most of the people still saw her as was, the cheerleader captain and class president. It was reassuring, but kind of scary at the same time. What would happen when they truly believed in what she was; if they ever did. She'd been a part of this town for a long time.

"Hey Sook!" Jacob yelled from his pool table, "More beer?"

The rest of the night flew by at Merlotte's. Bella and her boys disappeared early, but after their night it was understandable. Bill stayed until closing to take me home.

"Hey Sookie," Sam came out from the back, "Could you fill in one night this week for Bella? She's going out of town."

"Sure, no prob," I was curious about what had happened, but I stayed out of Sam's head on this one. Knowing Bella, she probably didn't tell Sam what was happening anyway. She always told us afterwards though.

"Elena and Jessica said they would come in for the other shifts. They'll be in early enough tomorrow so you can show them the ropes."

"No prob, boss," Sookie finished up her tables and went out to meet Bill.

**The next morning**

A loud crash woke Sam Merlotte instantly. He struggled on his pants and flew out the door. Tires screeching, a large black truck flew off down the lane that led to Merlotte's, throwing gravel everywhere. As Sam walked around the front of his bar he saw the front window of his bar had been smashed in and spray painted 'Vamps stay dead' over the front door.

Sam was on the phone with the police in seconds. When they showed up he described the truck and what he heard and saw. With only one truck like that in town it wasn't hard to guess who did it, but were they alone. After calling Terry in to help most of the damage was boarded up and cleared. Sheriff Dearborne had called and told him a similar thing had happened over at the Salvatore boarding house.

During lunch Sam's got a text on his one, 'Where is Bella' it said and was signed '-E'.

'Italy' he texted in return.

Sam was now starting to worry about Bella if Northman had to contact him.

At night began to fall Eric pulled out his phone to check his messages. There were several that pertained to his sheriff business and one from the shifter.

'Italy' was the only answer he received. He began another call at that point.

"It's Eric, meet me at Fangtasia now. I don't care where you are, I gave you an order." Bill had argued a bit more, but one growl persuaded him to come.

As he began to dial his maker, Godric had called him, with no preamble, Godric asked, "Where is she, Eric? You were supposed to be protecting her."

If Godric felt what Eric was feeling from Bella then things were indeed dire. The 'coming out of the coffin' went better than he had expected, but there had been several incidents during the day. In the bar, most of the patrons had returned tonight and were thrilled that their 'fake' vampires were the real thing. Several people even offered to be bitten. Outside the bar, however, vandals destroyed their parking lot and there was at least one bomb threat for tonight so far. Pam and the others had standing orders to report any strange smelling blood bags immediately or deny them entrance.

"The shifter in Boone said she had gone to Italy," Eric replied, cringing at the sound of Godric's hiss.

"Meet me at your airport as soon as possible," the ancient vampire growled through clenched teeth.

Eric hated leaving Pam and Clancy to handle things without him, but he was pretty sure Godric would need him to track down Isabella. With both of them there Aro would be hard pressed to keep Isabella under his thumb. Both of them were enforcers of vampire legends and almost nothing could stop them together.

Meanwhile, Carlisle began calling around to find out where his children were. He saw the news report on the vampires and feared the worst for them. The school had told him that Edward had left school with one of the teachers, Damon Salvatore, and Alice's friend told him that he last saw Alice at Merlotte's; the attack on the bar was already all over the hospital. He checked through Alice's credit card purchases online and found an expensive airline purchase.

"Alice, what have you done?"

Monday morning Bonnie and Jessica sat down at the steps in the main hall like they always did. They had both heard that Bella was a vampire, but neither one really believed it. Bella was one of them and had been for a few years; she had blended in too much and was the best on the team. When she disappeared the night of the big announcement it really looked bad.

"What do you think happened to her?"

Elena sat behind the two, tapping her foot, waiting for Stefan. She knew what he was before, but still… where was he?

"I'm guessing she vanished with Stefan and Damon," Caroline piped in as she sat down. "Maybe went with Edward to get married or something.

"She wouldn't just leave, Caroline, she'd tell us if it was something like that. Something has happened to her," Bonnie snapped.

"Let's get together after school and see if we can find her. I bet her boss knows something," Jessica suggested.

"Mr. Merlotte? I guess that's a start. Okay, we'll try to track them down."

Sam Merlotte was standing at the bar making drinks as they all came in. He knew it would happen. The reporters wanted to know about the attack on his bar and what had happened Friday night. There had already been several reporters that had come and gone over the weekend, but these ones just kept coming back.

"I have nothing to say, ya'll, but if you'd like to stay and ear, please do, but if you harass my customers I will have to ask you to leave."

Several of the reporters stayed, but most of them left, but when Bella's cheerleaders showed up in the bar he knew that they wouldn't take no for an answer. Bella had thought them confidence beyond their years and her stubbornness rubbed off on them as well.

"Mr. Merlotte, have you heard from Bella?" Bonnie asked quietly.

"Nothing new, girls, sorry. Last I heard she was still on the trip." As he said that his phone went off. He motioned them to wait a moment as he checked the text. As he read his face lit up, then he frowned deeply.

"Excuse me, girls, I've got a phone call to make," he stepped out from behind the bar and went to his office.

The girls followed him after they heard the door close. Lafayette looked up at them from the kitchen, but assumed as always the girls were going to the bathroom as a group. Bonnie and Jessica put their ears to the door.

"What do you mean she won't remember me, Bill? What happened to her?" Sam said quickly.

Behind the door was quiet for a while before they heard Sam again.

"Okay. Let me know when you get her back to town. I'll send Terry over tonight to help me finish up the repairs to the boarding house. The announcement didn't go over as well as we originally thought. "

He paused as Bill began to talk again.

"Yes, things will be ready for her. I'll make sure the girls stay away for a few days. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

Another pause.

"If she doesn't know herself, you know as well as I do that she's going to be unpredictable. She'll probably end up killing someone before she even realized what she did."

Both of them were quiet at that point.

"She's always been good, Bill. You may not know that, but her friends do. Let's just hope she'll know. I'll pray for her safe return."

He hung up without saying goodbye. With a quick movement Sam opened the door, looking down at the four girls on the floor.

"Good evening, ladies, may I help you?"

Caroline was the first to get to her feet, "Um, we just wanted to know about Bella, Mr. Merlotte."

"Well, you're in luck; she'll be home tomorrow morning if things go right." The worry in his voice was apparent as he helped Elena and Bonnie to their feet. Jessica managed to get on her feet before he got to her.

"Go on now, you two need to get to work before this crowd gets impatient," he pointed to Elena and Jessica.

"Yup, right away," the girls scurried out of his way, two going to wash up and get aprons, two to the main bar.

"I hope you're okay, Isabella…" Sam whispered to himself.

In the main compartment of the plane, Jasper, Bill and Stefan were going through vampire exercises, teaching the newborn how to control his speed and some of his instincts. Bill felt somewhat out of place with this family of vampires, but he helped everywhere he could. Careful not to play too rough, Jasper and Stefan usually were the only ones going back and forth until Jasper seemed to grasp how to move fast.

Eric had been on the phone with Pam well into the night. Right now he was sitting in Bella's bedroom on the plane with his feet up on the table. On the bed she was sleeping peacefully, Edward was behind her, his arm around her. Her child Damon was pressed as close as he could to her front, his head on her chest and his body low on hers. Godric was lying awake at her feet, one hand touching her leg as he read. Alice had curled up by Bella's feet as well, her legs entangled in Bella's as well. It was times like this that Eric was glad he carried his phone with him. He snapped a photo of the group on his phone, winking as Godric's head shot up. No one said a word as the vampires rested.

As Eric looked around the room he noticed the bookshelf that Godric had gotten the book off of. He noticed the books only had the years written on the binders. Without really looking he picked up the one that had 1066 written on the spine in very old lettering. He sat back down, propping his feet back up as he carefully read through the pages of the book. With shock, Eric realized that the book was Isabella's diary of the year they had met. Her innermost fears, desires and feelings about what happened all those years ago. The delicate pages were faded, but some looked as if they had been rewritten when they faded. It was almost as if Isabella had made the attempt to preserve what had happened all those years again.

He looked up to the pile of Vampires, spotting her beautiful face, framed in her thick hair. For the longest time he watched her, not wanting to forget this moment. When he snapped out of it, he looked over and saw Godric watching him with a smile.

"It's hard not to love her, is it not," Godric whispered.

"Don't use words I don't understand," Eric turned his head back to the book as Godric chuckled.

"You will, my child, you will. Isabella has a way of teaching you even when she doesn't know it. She may not know who she is, but I can still feel her goodness inside her. Can't you feel her?"

Eric only looked at his maker, reaching inside himself, opening the bond that he normally tried to keep closed.

"I can."

Bella was sitting on a swing on a large white porch in a house she didn't recognize, but at the same time she did. It was as if she'd known this house her entire life. She looked down on her gown, seeing the whiteness of it shimmering over one hand as the gold bracelets on her wrists tinkled lightly as she moved her hand. Feeling up her neck, she felt the golden collar and necklaces that trailed down her chest.

"Where am I?" she whispered to herself.

Standing from the swings, she placed her hand on one of the columns and stepped down into the yard in front of the house. There was no one about in the bright midday sun. In the distance she could hear the loud thunder of what sounded like a war. None of this made sense to her; things were crazy. A man came running up to her, taking her hands. He was wearing white robes similar to hers and gold much like hers. He looked so familiar to her.

"Isabella, you must hide. They will kill you if you do not hide!"

"Who are you, why do I have to hide?" she panicked, taking the man's hand and running off with him to a small, hidden shelter that was well off in the distance from the house.

"Stay here, my daughter, you will be safe. You must live!"

The man turned and vanished like a fog.

"Padre!" Bella screamed as the figure faded.

With a gasp, Bella sat up, the bodies coving her upper half falling back to the bed. She was breathing hard although she did not need to. She touched Edward's face lightly, untangling her legs from Alice as she touched Damon's arm. Looking around the room, Bella saw Eric in one chair and Godric in another, both with very old books in their hands. Their eyes, however watched her. Both of them had heard her call for her father so could guess her dream.

"Did you either of you know my father?" She slid down to the end of the bed, looking at the two of them.

Eric only shook his head, but Godric sat next to Bella, taking her hand. He explained her family and who they were, why they were killed and how she was killed.

"How did you know?" Bella asked him.

"You told me over sixteen hundred years ago, my beloved Isabella." Godric answered quietly, trying his best not to shock the girl.

"How old am I?"

"You are seventeen years old by your body, but you are actually one thousand six hundred and twenty-five years old. You were born in 385."

Isabella held her face in her hands, not wanting to believe her ears. The captain came over the overhead to tell everyone that they would be landing soon. Damon sat up, winking to Bella to let her know he had been listening to the conversation. Alice and Edward remained asleep where they were.

Eric's phone rang suddenly, "Northman."

He paused, listening, " I understand."

He hung up, putting his phone back in his pocket. "We have a problem."

**I hope I still have some readers in this story, it's a little addictive... please review, it helps me get going to update faster.**


	18. Chapter 18

Don't hate me ya'll, I finally got some time to write. Life has been super busy lately offline. I am in dire need of a beta and/or co-writer for these stories. As usual, none of these characters are mine.

Quick recap since I've been away so long – Isabella "Bella" Swann (as she's known as now) is a 1626 year old princess of the Roman Empire. She's currently on a plane with Godric and Eric, her ex-lovers and dearest friends, Bill, a vampire boyfriend of her best friend, and her children Damon and Stefan who were born in the Italian Renaissance, and their child Jasper who is newly turned. His sister Alice and brother Edward (both of them share with her a very close bond), who is the love of Bella's life are also with her and were turned by Bella only yesterday to save their lives. The only problem is, Bella has no idea she's a vampire and her memory is completely missing. Also, continuity edit here, Godric is King of Texas and Fangtasia is in Dallas.

Chapter 18 – We're Here

Bella moved from the bed over to the window, opening it just a little bit to reveal the setting sun outside. The airstrip looked tiny and in the middle of nowhere and there were a lot of people protesting on the ground. She turned back to Godric questioning, but he only shrugged. Eric stood, coming over to her and taking her hand.

"Isabella, there will be some people down there waiting for us. You must try to act like a queen down there. You take nothing from anyone and we respond to everything you do and say. The people down there will not be kind to you otherwise. Can you do this?"

"What will happen if I cannot?" she whispered, not meeting his eyes.

"We will all be separated and your beloved Edward and Alice may not survive the night." Eric tried to catch her eyes, but could not.

He hard to tell her the worst possible scenario otherwise he feared she would not listen to him. The room suddenly turned cold around them as Jasper came into the room.

"Bella, you can do this," Jasper could feel her emotions and pushed some of his calmness towards her.

"Okay, let's get this over with," she stood, waking Alice and shooing the boys out of the cabin to the main one. Eric had picked her out a dark turquoise sleeveless down that hugged her curves all the way down to her knees then flared out dramatically. She loved the way it felt on her. With Alice's help she put on her jewelry and put her hair up and to one side, weaving roses in her hair. As she sat there in front of her small dressing table, Bella noticed that she looked twice her age.

"You can do this, Bella. I've seen you do it in my dreams."

Bella rose and walked towards Alice slowly, her foot slipping slightly in the heel since she was not used to that size. She sat down next to Alice on the bed, taking one of her hands carefully and turning it over to look at the palm.

"Are the dreams getting any better, Alice?" a small shock travelled down Bella's hand into Alice's before either of them could react to it.

Alice jumped backwards, falling off the bed and landing hard on the floor. Suddenly very still, her eyes went blank and her whole body stiffened. On the bed above her, Edward woke at the thud and was staring wide eyed in shock at Alice. Bella stood very still near Alice, in shock at herself for the emotions she feels from her child. Someone knocked on the door.

"Is everyone alright in there?" Eric spoke quietly from the other side of the door.

For a while there was a long silence, then Bella answered, "Yes, Eric, we're doing fine. Just give me a moment to finish getting ready."

Edward's head snapped back at Bella since she sounded so much like her old self, just quieter. Bella made no move towards Edward, but knelt down to help Alice up. After shaking her head a few times Alice stood to help Bella into her dress. Neither of the girls mentioned the incident so Edward also remained quiet. He still could not hear Bella, but he knew something was different. Alice's vision was disturbing to say the least.

'Bella, my love, can you still hear me?' he sent the thought out to her.

The girl quickly turned as if she was called from behind and jerked herself off balance since she was putting on a tall strappy heel. Edward caught her and slid his arms around her waist, resting his head along her shoulder and breathing softly into her neck.

'It's only me, my Isabella.'

His thoughts began to sooth her, making her relaxed into his arms. She may not have known him, but she knew those thoughts and they calmed her restless mind until it felt like she was melting into him. When Edward never received a reply his arms tightened even more.

"I need to get my sho… Edward? What's wrong?"

Edward had gone stiff behind Bella, his body still pressed against her back. His only movement was his breathing into the side of her neck, but that was now very shallow. Without any warning he bit into her neck harshly, his arms clinging to her to keep her still. Bella screamed, stepping back and grabbing Edward's head before tossing him over her shoulder and making him land with a crash. When Bella looked into Alice's eyes she saw the problem… their hunger became too much for them to handle. Alice lunged at Bella, but she sidestepped her quickly landing on her back, yelling for Stefan. Instead, Damon arrived with two bottled bloods, taking Alice by the neck as Bella grabbed Edward, slamming him to the floor and pinning him down with her whole body like a solid stone above him. .

"Do not make me hurt you, Edward, you must drink this," she handed him the bottle that Damon had given her, but when he refused it, she put it to his mouth, grabbing his whole head and locking her legs around his torso to pull his head back and make him drink. He fought her the whole time, until a shock went from her body and into his. His body stilled enough for her to let her feed him the blood easily. When he finished the bottle she let go of her leg hold on him and got up on her knees near his now still form. When she looked up, Damon was just staring at her with hope in his eyes, but that hope died when she looked back at him. It was the same lost look that she had before.

"Shit," Bella was looking down at her gown as she slowly stood, the dress was okay, but almost every visible spot on her chest was covered in blood. The spot on her neck had already healed, but there was still blood there as well.

Eric appeared at the open door, looking at the damage that had been done to the room. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw where everyone was.

"Up to your old tricks again, Isabella?" He meant it to tease her, but when she only stared at him in confusing his laughter stopped. Eric ignored Bella, looking over towards Damon, seeing the bottle, then the blood on the floor.

"Ah," he looked suddenly serious, "we are landing in moments, my lady. Please take your seat until we have landed. I would hate for that beautiful dress of yours to get destroyed in the landing. His eyes lingered on the curves of her body as he started from the room. From the floor, Edward began to growl lowly at Eric, but he stayed still. Slowly, sanity seeped back into his eyes as the blood began to work its way through his system.

"Little boy, you do not want to pick a fight with me. I trained with Godric the same time the lovely lady here did and there is no chance you can beat either of us."

Bella looked as if she had questions, but followed him out the door, bending only to pick up the shoes she had been putting on and the locket that Godric had showed her earlier. She kept touching the cameo around her neck as if she could feel the magic in, but did not understand it. The girl also felt that magic in the locket in her hand. As she joined the others, she sat between Godric and Eric, watching Edward and Alice as they sat down across from her. She could not see Stefan as much as she could feel him. She knew both he and Damon sat behind her. The sensations were so strong around her that as she bent to put on her shoes, she closed her eyes and felt all around her. It was odd to feel everyone without her eyes and to sense the air over the wings of the plane. Shivering slightly, she felt a hand touch hers at her ankle. When she looked up her eyes met with those emerald eyes that she knew somehow. He was kneeling before her, fixing her shoe with their hands touching, his eyes were locked with hers and she couldn't move. Slowly, with the fear that she would reject him, he moved forward and gently pressed his lips to hers.

"Edward, we are landing, you need to get in your seat. If Bella was herself she would tell you herself and I'm sure she would not like her plane destroyed by your flying body."

Edward growled against her lips at Eric's smooth voice, but he backed to his seat as soon as he finished the clasp on her other foot. The plane landed smoothly on the runway and soon the plane was steady again. Everyone was quiet as the plane settled onto the runway, slowed then turned towards the hanger that it would be sitting in. The crowd on the ground was being held back by a police line and a ton of guards. Bella looked out the window at the group and was amazed that everyone would do this just for their arrival. As she turned to look at the older vampire that was no just behind her, she quirked an eyebrow at him much in the style she had learned from her time with Godric and Eric.

"My lady, shall we go enthrall the masses?" he smiled, offering her his arm.

Looking from Godric to Bella, she took a deep unnecessary breath and stood, taking Godric's arm in hers and followed him towards the doors, watching Edward over her shoulder. Just before the pair got to the door, she stopped, closing her eyes to gather herself before opening her eyes and nodding.

"Let's get this over with."

Damon laughed from somewhere behind her, "Now she sounds like the old Bella."

"Let us go prove that we are no different than anyone else, my lady."

"Yes, my King."

Everyone stood frozen for a moment watching Bella as if she would be herself once more, but she only stood there waiting for Godric to step forward. With a shake of a head they slowly made their way down the dark stairs onto the tarmac and the waiting crowd of reporters below. The flashing lights of the cameras would have been blinding to humans, but if the vampires minded, not a one showed it; not even Bella. The cameras took photos of them leaving the plane and each of them as they passed the group and entered the waiting limo. Only Alice and Stefan waved to the crowd, but none of them hurried as if they were celebrities heading to some premiere somewhere. Before everyone got in, one of the reporters broke free and grabbed Eric, who had been standing as the rear guard. Eric reacted instantly, hissing at the human at his arm who yelped and jumped back. Before anything worse could happen, Eric's head popped up as if he heard something then he followed the rest of them into the limo. Bobby, who was standing outside then joined them and the driver closed the door.

"Why was that so hard?" Bella asked, clearly confused.

"Lady Isabella, the presses have not known of our existence for a very long time, but there are still vampires that do and will probably see the footage of everyone getting off the plane. The king and his great lady will be great news in this area," Bobby continued as Bella suddenly looked in shock at Godric, "for the vampires who will see the report. The humans will know who he is soon enough. Right now it is important for you to be seen as you are… strong and extremely powerful."

"What has been happening?" Godric asked calmly.

"There have been a few vandalisms in the city and several attacks. So far there have been no riots or houses burnt, but we are expecting several attacks as the news wears on. The town that our Bella resides in has only had a few vandals, but they have been taken care of. Pam was quite put out when your place of business was attacked, my lady."

Bella nodded, clearly not understanding, but knew she must act as if she did. The faces of Eric and Godric on the plane were enough to show that she was part of the power here in Dallas and people would come after her if she appeared weak in any way. As she looked towards Edward, Alice and Damon she knew that she wouldn't risk any of them for her lack of confidence.

"On the other hand, business at Fangtasia is higher than it has ever been. Sookie has been called up from Boone to help with underage customers and the waitressing. Also, we have called in several vampires to make an appearance to help with crowd control. So far it seems that the vermin are too afraid of us, but they are too intrigued by us to leave."

Eric leaned back in his seat, "This is good. This is very good."

Before he could continue, Bella's cell phone started to go off over and over as she started to get her text messages. Everyone looked at her as she searched her purse for the phone and just looked at it, unsure what to do. Stefan took it from her and started going through her messages with her quietly as Eric, Godric and Bobby continued to go over business.

"Looks like our friends have been busy, Bella," Stefan saw messages from Sam, Sookie, Elena, Bonnie, Ian and Caroline along with several he didn't recognize that were more recent.

**Merlotte's**

Repairs were now complete with the help of Pam and Clancy, but Merlotte's was still very busy with all the reporters. Bella's friends had worried Sam until he had seen them come in again tonight to wait for news on Bella. The TV behind the bar was tuned to the news, so when Bella's face suddenly came across the screen it was Bonnie who yelled.

"It's Bella!" She yelled, running to the bar to see the news report. It only explained that they were the party of the royal vampires of Texas, but nothing specific about any of them. The video played them getting off the plane in the darkness of the night so it had to be live or close to it.

"That's Love Field! That means she's home!" Bonnie jumped up and down, her hands in Caroline's and Elena's, the trio of them dancing in a circle.

"Girls," Sam tried to get their attention, then when that failed, "Girls!"

They stopped and turned to him.

"I think it's safe to say she won't be back here tonight. She may not be here for a few days, so you all need to relax. We know she's okay and," he turned to the screen watching Bella, "not quite herself since the revelation of everything that's happened since Friday. People here reacted pretty well for the most part, but from what I've heard not all of Texas had it so well. She'll be home as soon as she can."

Bonnie turned towards Sam, looking at him carefully.

"What are you hiding, Mr. Merlotte?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, Bonnie. Bella will be home soon and hopefully these reporters will leave us alone when they get their story."

Bonnie continued watching Sam for a few minutes before shrugging and sitting on a barstool after bring her food to the bar. The scene replayed over and over; Bella in her gorgeous gown on the arm of a dark haired vampire in white. They looked so perfect together.

"Alice?" a voice said from behind her.

Bonnie turned around and cringed when she saw Esme Cullen watching the television from behind the trio of girl. Next to her, Dr. Cullen stood, watching the replay of the vampires getting off the plane.

"What are Alice and Jasper doing on that plane? And Edward… he looks… oh no."

Carlisle pulled out his phone and made the call.


	19. Chapter 19

**I am in dire need of a beta and/or co-writer for these stories. As usual, none of these characters are mine. **

**Chapter 19 – Fangtasia**

The night outside was quiet as they drove towards the main part of Dallas. As Bella and Stefan began to go through messages, Alice's phone went off. It was already in her hand as she spoke into it.

"Hey Dad," but she was cut off before she could continue.

"Italy, Alice? Why did you feel the need to go there? And why are you with those vampires? I heard on the news that they are real. "

Alice sighed, but as she was about to respond, Bella put out her hand to Alice to ask for the phone. Everyone else looked at her carefully.

"One moment, dad, Bella wants to talk to you."

Bella took the phone calmly, looking much more herself, "Doctor Cullen, I just wanted you to know that Alice and Edward are very safe with me. I will not hurt either of them and both of them are like family to me. Everything will be explained tomorrow evening when we return to Boone, but as of right now it would better if nothing is explained over the phone."

She paused, listening to Carlisle, "If you give me your word that they will okay, I will wait for you to explain. "

"You have my word, Doctor Cullen that I will keep them safe. We will be in Boone tomorrow, but tonight there is the business to take care of in Dallas."

Carlisle sighed, "I can understand that; with that announcement on Friday I'm sure there are plenty of things you need to take care of."

"Thank you for understanding. Here is Alice again; I must contact more people this night."

Bella handed the phone to Alice, taking her phone back from Stefan. When Alice put the phone to her ear she told her dad goodbye and that she loved him. As the screen lit up she saw photos of her friends and people from the limo. Most of them she did not recognize at all, but some she felt she knew somehow. Something was pulling on her memories, but it was all fuzzy; nothing was clear anymore. She felt as if she was on autopilot, acting as others expected her to and not really understanding what she was doing. She opened the blind that hid them from the driver.

"Bobby, how long do we have until we reach Fantasia?"

Eric and Godric both jerked at Bella, they were shocked that she remembered the driver's name.

"Less than five minutes, my lady," he responded quietly, his mind obviously on the crowded highway.

Pushing the partisan closed again, Bella looked at the two ancient vampires near her and laughed at their expressions.

"The look on your faces is priceless. Not to worry, gentlemen, one way or another we'll get through this. Isn't that what you keep telling me?"

Her eyes lingered on Edward in that last part. He only nodded at her, his eyes searching for that high school student he fell instantly in love with and was drawn to like no other. She was there, he knew it, but the eyes that followed his were close to those of a stranger. Edward knew she was in there; he felt her inside of the stranger in front of him. Still shocked at the turn things have taken, he followed her eyes as she looked around the cabin at everyone. Suddenly her eyes cast downward at her phone as it went off in her hand. She brought her feet up under her to the side as she started to respond to the messages. Under Stefan's direction, she responded to each of the people accordingly until she got to the last two. As she responded to the one from Connor, she texted him that she was well and would contact him soon. The other one was from an Angus McKay so she responded to him in the same way until she knew who they were.

**Merlotte's **

Sam watched as the girls received their text messages from Bella. The relief in their faces was obvious. Carlisle on the other hand, sat on a stool, staring at the owner.

"Did you know what Bella was?" For some reason, the question struck Carlisle and he knew ahead of time what the answer would be. "You did, didn't you?"

"I do."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"It was not my secret to tell and answer this truthfully; if Bella or I had told you the truth would you have taken us seriously or thought we were on some kind of drug."

Carlisle laughed then nodded, "I see your point. I thought I had seen everything as a doctor, but this… "

"You can trust Bella. She's the best vampire I have ever met."

The doctor nodded, taking a drink of his cola.

**The Limo, outside of Fantasia**

Fantasia is a bar that's in a long strip mall in the heart of Dallas. As they pulled up, the lights and noise of the building blazed into the street. The line to get into the bar reached all the way past the corner and down the side of the building. Each person in the line wore tight black or red leather and looked like they belonged more at a gothic club than a vampire bar. Unable to help herself, Bella laughed at them.

"This is going to be fun," she chuckled, unable to help herself, but a quick look from Godric quickly made her straighten up.

Eric and the others stepped out of the car as Edward held one of Bella's hands and Godric held the other.

"The vampires still consider you to be with me, Isabella. I know that you are with Edward, but until your memory returns, please pretend to be with me. I will keep you and Edward both safe for your stay here tonight. I would hate to see what would happen if they discover your memory was gone; especially since the vampires in the area all saw how Aro reacted to you when he was here. These newer vampires do not understand our ways and I wish to teach both your Edward and Alice the way to do things before they return home so they may survive."

With a nod, Edward stepped out in front of Bella, standing to one side as Godric got out of the limo behind him. Still a bit scared, Bella hesitated before she took Godric's offered hand as she stepped out of the limo. The camera flashes around them had blinded her momentary as Godric lead her by the arm towards the double doors of Fantasia. At the door there stood a tall blond woman who wore a flowing and beautiful black gown. She turned her head at the approaching trio and smiled, not saying anything as she moved to let them go inside. Inside the music was much louder. Godric led Bella to a huge table where Damon and Stefan were already sitting with Jasper. Alice stood at the bar ordering drinks, soon joined by Edward, who helped her take them to the table. Seeming to catch everything with her eye at once, she noticed that Bill was gone. She seemed to remember him saying he was going back to Boone to get back to work on a project he was working on for Godric. Watching Godric make his way towards the stage with Eric, she slid into the booth next to Damon with Edward sliding in beside her as he appeared with their drinks.

"Roman sent you a supply of Chocolood for you it seems," Damon laughed, handing her the chocolate laced blood in a bottle.

Without looking at the label or even thinking about it, Bella took the bottle and downed half of it in seconds, grinning like an idiot when she realized what it was.

"Feeling better?" Edward asked her, putting his arm over her shoulders, which after a quick look around the room she shrugged him off.

"That helped a lot," she smiled, slightly sticking her tongue out like a teenager.

'Remember what Godric said, Edward, I am supposed to be his.' Though her mind was saying one thing, the look she gave Edward clearly said another thing. 'At least while we are here.'

Without her memory Bella felt lost, but as long as Edward was with her she knew things would be okay. On the plane back from wherever they were she felt a nearly constant pull to Edward and knew from the look on his face that he felt it too. With a sign, she turned her attention back to the bar, listening carefully to the patrons, vampire and human like. With each person she could taste the emotions and in some cases she picked up some that were more hatred then fun. With a look, she notified Eric of those people, which he would be watching closely. Jasper also was feeling out emotions and every now and then I could feel a wave of calm hit me.

A human boy, not long over 18 stepped up to the table, "Would the lady like to dance?"

Damon stands to protest, but Bella puts a hand on his chest, pushing him back down with a smile as she stands and accepts the boys offered hand. Slowly, the two begin to dance under the watchful eyes of most of the vampires in the room. Listening carefully to the human, she picks up nothing but happiness and calm so she continues to dance with him.

"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mitch."

"I am Isabella."

Bella stops as the human's eyes narrow in recognition of that name and he lets go of her to pull a stake out of the back of his pants. Before he can react any further she has him on his back, pinned to the floor. She looked over at the stage in time to realize that Godric was already on his way to her, but Eric had just reacted.

'"You think me easy to kill because I am a vampire? I am older than you could possibly imagine, boy." She hissed at him, showing full fang.

With a snap of his fingers, Godric called Eric over to remove the boy. Godric then begins to dance with Bella as if nothing happened, but their style of dance seemed very old, but the two moved as if they were linked. The humans slowly begin dancing around the two, but give them enough room to move all they needed. Their dance began to look less and less like dancing and more like something ancient, even primal. Their bodies flowed like the elements themselves. As the song stops and a slow song comes on, Godric spins Bella into Edward's arms and the two begin to dance as Godric returns to the stage. The two dance in silence, with her head on his shoulder as they barely move in the dance. As the song begins to fade, Edward leads her towards the hall leading towards the office where the noise level was lower.

"I wish you could remember who you are… you are an amazing woman, Bella," Edward whispers only to her, his face inches from her.

His fingers trace up the side of her face and then his hand cups her cheek as his lips meet hers tenderly. As images flood through Bella's mind, stunning her still, Edward utters one word louder everything else.

"Bomb."

On the stage, Eric reacts, appearing suddenly at their side.

"Who has it?"

Edward's eyes move around the room as he describes a blond male and the clothing he is wearing. Eric spots the man and him as well as the bomb are removed from the bar before any of the humans are aware of what has happened. Still dazed, Bella only stands there watching it all with a blank look on her face. Edward tries to talk to her, but she doesn't respond. Eric also tries, pulling Damon into the group as well, no she responds to none of them. Finally giving up, Damon sweeps her off her feet and takes her back to the office, laying her on the couch. Unable to stand the dizziness and all the pictures flashing before her eyes, Bella rolls onto her side and simply blacks out.

"What did you do to her?" Damon asked Edward.

"I kissed her…" he whispered.

**Reviews are my writing fuel… the story was moving a bit slow, I needed to pick it up a little… next chapter hopefully will be more… colorful.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I am in dire need of a beta and/or co-writer for these stories. As usual, none of these characters are mine. **

**Chapter 20 – Where am I?**

Everything is dark

Why is it so dark?

Bella moved her fingers around slowly, letting the dirt flow freely between each one, but she couldn't move anything else. There was no light, no air, no sound, only the pressing of the dirt around her. She waited for the panic that never came. Feeling movement above her the girl tensed then screamed silently when a hand came through the heaviness above her. As she was pulled to the surface Bella couldn't describe how it felt to have the earth sliding from her skin then suddenly sprawled in the tall grass in a dirty heap of bloody clothes. Wiping the dirt from her eyes she saw a boy very close to her own age with penetrating eyes and bloody hair.

"Who… who are you?" she whispered hoarsely.

"I am Death." His voice was strong and commanding, but the look in his eyes told me I could trust him.

The world swirled around her suddenly, appearing on a rooftop in a strange new land. Below her she smelled fur and even stronger the sea. Her eyes followed a very tall blond dressed mostly in fur that wandered slowly through the streets. The man was from the Northern lands no doubt by his smell, height and pale skin. She jumped from rooftop to rooftop following the man before he turned the corner and he was gone.

Darkness grew and then there it was suddenly so bright Bella could barely see. The smell of sunshine and roses invaded her senses making her swoon in delight. In the distance there was a castle that reminded her of home, but it was the site of two boys running in the yard that caught her attention. They were tossing a ball back and forth and laughing happily to each other. Both of the boys were younger than her, but not by much. With a smile she wandered around the garden watching the two until one ran close to her, falling through the hedge to catch the ball, landing at her feet.

"Please forgive me, my lady," his dark eyes mesmerized her as much as that smirk that should not have been on one so young.

Another dream… another time…

Swords clashing and hands gripped her, throwing her to the ground. Without even thinking, Bella put her leg up and flipped her opponent and was on her feet in a blink. With a flick of her sword she disarmed her opponent and pinned him to the ground.

"Calm yourself Highlander, I have no need of your life, I need your help," she said it automatically in a daze.

The landscape changed only slightly as she stepped out of the woods and onto and huge open field full of littered bodies. She watched the final moments of the kilted me fighting each other before it was over. It was the bloodlust hit her as night fell, but before she could touch anyone four kilted Scotsmen had her pinned down with a claymore to her neck. That was her first memory of hair as red as that.

Again time passed… days to years… years to decades…

As Edward looked down at Bella's still form he held her hand in his. He kept looking back and forth between Alice to Godric, who were sitting across from him in the small office. Alice just rolled her eyes at him again and smiled.

"She'll be fine, Edward, I already told you. She just needs to recover from Italy before her mind can repair itself. "

"I know… I know… ", he looked down at Bella's still form, her head in his lap as he brushed a stray hair out of her eyes.

"From the moment I saw her it was like we were drawn together, almost like magnets. It feels strange not to feel that with her right here. She's so still."

Godric finally looked up from Eric's computer, "That is her death sleep, young one. She has not slept like that in a very long time and keeps pushing to be normal." He looked over at Bella fondly but sadly, "She always pushes beyond her limits, but she's made it so we can do so many things now. Even without her memories I could see the bond between the two of you. Hold onto that, Edward, listen to your blood, her blood is within you and it connects you as well. You can…" His phone ran loudly in the room, interrupting what he was saying. Holding up a finger, he answered it, stepping back to the desk talking quietly for several minutes before hanging up.

"Sometimes I wonder if us 'coming out' was a good thing," he sighed, walking towards the two, bending over and kissing Bella gently on the forehead, "I must go, but I'll try to keep in touch. Please let me know when she's more… herself. She has my number now." He put Bella's phone back in her pocket and vanished in a rush of speed.

After what seemed like hours, Pam appeared at the door, wiping blood off her hands.

"Eric should be up soon, he's almost finished with that bomber," she showed a fangy smile, "in the meantime you three have some visitors."

Pam grinned, moving aside as Bonnie, Elena, Caroline and Jessica pushed past her and ran to hug Alice. Behind them, Dr. Cullen stood in the doorway watching everyone carefully.

"Thank goodness you're safe, we were so worried about you!"

Alice stilled in their arms causing all of them to back up and gasp at the look on her face.

"Be careful girls, I wouldn't want you to get eaten by mistake," Pam laughed from the door, then turned and walked away.

"I'm okay, really, you all just surprised me," Alice's face returned to normal after a few minutes. "I haven't been around normal people in a while, but I'm not hungry at all," she smiled, "an advantage of being one of Bella's girls is that I have some of her self-control in that department."

At the mention of Bella, the group turned to the girl lying in Edward's lap and approached him warily before kneeling by Bella. All of them touched a part of her, almost like without feeling her she wasn't real. Dr. Cullen then approached Alice, checking her over like the good doctor he was before hugging her gently.

"You're okay?"

"I am. I have never felt better actually. Also, I'm still me, that's always a plus, " Alice giggled, jumping up and down a little.

Edward watched how the girls treated Bella and it shocked him how devoted they were to her, "You girls always act so strange around Bella, why is that?"

Caroline smiled, rolling her eyes as if she shouldn't have to explain, but Elena elbowed her and explained anyway, "Bella calls us 'her collection' as a joke, it was Bonnie's idea. Each of us was in a really bad situation before Bella came. My parents had just died and strange things were happening around me, Caroline was ignored when she would tell her parents when their friends were going to betray them, strange things always happened around Bonnie no matter what she did, and Jessica would black out all the time and wake up in strange places. Bella helped each of us in ways you'd never understand. She helped us be comfortable with who we were and not to be afraid of what we were. She helped us control what we could do and be normal again. We are under her protection. I think that calls for some dedication, don't you? Bonnie, what's wrong?"

Everyone turned to Bonnie, who had closed her eyes the moment she had touched Bella's leg.

"We need to get Amelia, Gran and Holly here as quickly as possible, Bella is under a spell."

**TBC**

**Sorry it's been so long between updates. I am still writing this as well as the other Times Are Changing spinoffs… the first part of this chapter you get a glimpse into the other stories. I haven't started the Highlander or Love at Stake crossovers yet, but I will once this one is wrapped up. **


	21. Chapter 21

**As usual, none of these characters are mine. **

_Everyone turned to Bonnie, who had closed her eyes the moment she had touched Bella's leg._

_"We need to get Amelia, Gran and Holly here as quickly as possible, Bella is under a spell."_

**Chapter 21 – Under your spell**

"Damon! Stefan! Eric! We need you in here!" Alice called out, knowing the two could hear her from almost anywhere in the building.

When they appeared at the door suddenly the humans flinched back only slightly, "Damon, I need you to go get Holly, she should be at Merlotte's about right now. Let Sam know it's for Bella and he should let her come. Stefan, I need you to go get my Gran, she'll know how to fix this." Bonnie paled slightly when she looked at Eric, then looked over to Alice to confirm who he was, she tried to talk, but couldn't.

"Eric, she need you to go to New Orleans and get Amelia Broadway, she's a witch in the service of someone named Sophie Anne. Offer her money and tell her it's for Bonnie. That should get her here faster than trying to explain what's going on."

The three looked a little stunned at being treated like errand boys, but the look on Bonnie's face was dead serious as she looked over Bella. They each left on their tasked as quickly as they arrived. Dr. Cullen sat by Bella's feet, looking over the young girl and taking his sons free hand. Caroline and Jessica stepped out of the room to go sit at the bar.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked Bonnie quietly.

"Not that I know of," she answered quietly then turned to Alice, "What happened to her once she left after the 'big reveal' that may help identify how this happened?"

Alice slid up next to Bonnie on the floor and explained everything that she knew, Edward filled in where she couldn't remember. In various places both Carlisle and Bonnie asked questions, as well as the other girls. They of course wanted to know every detail of this.

"We don't have much time. I can't think of anything I can do to help her. All I can tell from this spell is it was put on her about the time she disappeared and her kiss to Edward triggered another part of it. Who would have something against Bella being with Edward?"

Alice looked up, thinking back to their time in Italy, at all the people there… Oh yes, she could think of many people who didn't want them together. She still couldn't believe she got out of there ali… well, semi alive. Thinking back over the last few days she really didn't feel any different. Yes, things were sharper and her tastes in food have changed, but she still felt like her. As soon as Bella was herself again she'd have to ask her why she wasn't crazy in bloodlust.

After what felt like hours, but was surprisingly a short time all three of the other witches arrived one by one. Each touched Bella's forehead and sat on the floor next to her.

Bonnie's grandmother looked up at Edward, then around the room at the others, "All of you, get out." Her voice was quiet, but the power behind it was unmistakable. She looked sternly at Eric, "Do not let anyone in, no matter what you hear."

Most fought her, not wanting to leave, but after stern looks from every one of the witches the room eventually cleared out.

Inside the room, the picked up the ancient vampire, placing her on her side and joined hands around her. With the room now empty they could concentrate on the blockage on the girl's mind that cut her off from the world as well as her memories. Once the chanting started, Bella let out a bloodcurdling scream, her whole body going rigid and her nails digging into her hands. Each of the witches released their hands from each other and joined them on the girl's body, holding her down. Like a woman possessed, Bella fought each of them, her eyes popping open and snarling at them.

"Leave this girl alone! " Bonnie's grandmother placed both hands on the vampire's head, "Leave her be and never return. You are now banned from interfering with our lives."

Bella went still under the hands.

When they let go, she curled her legs up under her and yawned, "Where is Edward? How on Earth did I get here? Last thing I remember… I was on a plane. Marcus! Wait, this is Eric's office. Eric! Pam! Stefan! Damon! Godric!"

"It's okay now, Eric, you can let everyone in," Bonnie spoke normally, knowing Eric could hear her just fine.

When the door opened everyone flooded in, Caroline jumped into Bella's lap, Pam stood at the door, Jessica sat next to her while Eric made his way to his desk. Edward was nowhere to be seen yet. Bella stood, her legs wobbling a little before she started adjusting her clothing. She looked up and spotted Damon and Stefan flanking the door like bookends.

"Edward?"

"I'm here," his voice came from behind her. When she turned, both of her hands shot to her mouth, "You're a… of Gods… you're a… oh, Edward, I'm so sorry."

Putting his fingers under her chin, he lifted her face so his eyes met hers, "I'm not. I love you, Bella, and if me being a vampire means that I get to be with you, then so be it."

With tears in her eyes, she lifted her face more and gently touched her lips to his, "I love you so much, Edward."

Outside at the bar, Alice smiled as she saw how everything will turn out for them. She was able to see only happiness for the couple and grinned when she spotted a tall blond come in and sit at the bar next to her. Oh, Eric would have fun with her. Laughing to herself, she took a deep drink of her True Blood before heading in to join the group of vampires in the office.

**Later that night**

Bella and Edward climbed the stairs hand and hand as they listened to Alice play the piano below. When Bella passed into his room, she turned and saw the painting on the wall then broke out into a laugh.

"What is it?" Edward was confused at her response to the work of art, but loved the smile on her lips.

"Where on Earth did you find this painting, Edward?"

Grinning, Edward took it off the wall, examining it front and back before putting it back on the wall, "Dad bought it for me years ago. There was always something about it that never let me get rid of it."

"Well, I hope you don't. Stefan will be pleased to know his work still exists."

Looking from the painting, to Bella and back it finally clicked what he was seeing, "It's you in the painting, isn't it? Stefan painted you."

Bella laughed, kissing Edward softly, "Yup, that's me." She threw her arms around him, snuggling into his chest.

**The end**

**A/N** I am soooooo sorry this took so long…


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